A blueprint for forest carbon transactions in support of the carbon market leading to the ultimate development of a National Carbon Policy is being developed in collaboration with stakeholders, Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor has disclosed.
The proposed national carbon policy document when finalised is expected to come with the requisite Legislative Instrument for its operationalization to enable the country derive optimal benefits.
Mr Samuel Jinapor who disclosed this on the floor of parliament where he delivered a policy statement on the development of Ghana’s carbon market said government will work with relevant stakeholders for the country to penetrate the carbon market on a sound basis in its bid to effectively contribute to global efforts at halting climate change.
The minister stated that developed countries who are major contributors to the climate crisis have reneged on their promise of providing US$ 100. 000,000.00 annually in support of developing countries to tackle the menace hence Ghana and the rest of the developing world must take their destiny into their own hands by taking advantage of the carbon market.
According to him, the carbon market is a fast growing multi-billion dollar entity and the country is poised at tapping into it for the much needed economic gains.
“Mr Speaker, carbon market and trading is fast-emerging as one of the progressive markets of the future. It is a multi-billion dollar market. We can, should, and will tap into this market. We will do so intelligently, with urgency, and with utmost integrity, thereby giving the necessary impetus to our much-needed economic growth”, Mr Jinapor stated.
The UN has estimated green gas emission through nature-based solutions such as agriculture and halting deforestation by a third whiles trading in carbon would reduced the cost associated with the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) by US$ 250, 000,000.00 by 2030.
Apart from the National Climate Change Policy document, Ghana is also a signatory to and benefiting from several international climate change related initiatives and emission reduction payment agreements, the envisaged national carbon trading policy document will eliminate the adoption of adhoc approaches and provide a well-defined framework for the country’s carbon market activities including the development of authorization processes, capacity building and pricing of the commodity.
It will also among others set standards and methodology for carbon accounting, provide benefit sharing scheme, .fund flow and financial management mechanism, legal regime, carbon registry and exchange platform and define ownership rights of carbon.
What Are Carbon Stocks
The carbon stock refers to the amount of carbon stored in a pool or a system including the earth, oceans, rocks, fossil fuel and forests.
Carbon stocks in forests comes in the form of biomass, soil, deadwood and litter. The higher the forests’ capacity to absorb and sequester carbon dioxide, the higher the carbon stocks and as a result, limits the green gas emissions into the atmosphere.
The world’s carbon stock is estimated at eight hundred and sixty-one gigatones, 44% of which is found in soil, 42% found in biomass, 8% in deadwood and 6% in litter.
