By
E.K.Bensah Jr
There
is now what some might consider compelling evidence of the planet
warming up. Evidence recently released by scientists from the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has shown that
climate change is occurring at a faster rate than the world could
ever have imagined.
Statistics
from Ghana’s inventory of forestry stock indicate that Ghana has
lost a chunk of its forest cover since 1994, despite the inevitable
warming of the planet. It is believed that if sufficient attention is
not given to redress this imbalance of loss of forest cover, the
country will be all the worse for it. This is because lack of forest
cover allows direct exposure of sunlight and the sun’s rays to dry
up the already-polluted and fast-dwindling water –bodies.
Research
indicates that developing countries are most vulnerable to the
impacts of climate change as their livelihoods are highly-dependent
on climate-sensitive sectors, such as agriculture. Given that
Ghanaian peasant farmers practice rain-fed agriculture, depending on
weather patterns for their farming, and tend to include
slash-and-burn methods that prove to be unsustainable and harmful to
the Earth’s atmosphere, this significantly-contributes to global
warming. Consequently, Ghana has witnessed higher temperatures than
normal, as well as inconsistent rainfall patterns.
One
way in which Ghana has been trying to deal with this has been through
the use of the REDD+ mechanism, which is being coordinated by the
National REDD+ Secretariat of the Forestry Commission.
Suffice-to-say,
if there has ever been any indication the world has been fighting
climate change, the advocacy on REDD+ must be it.
According
to the UN, 0.58 per cent of tropical forests were being lost annually
at the beginning of the decade. Ten years later, the proportion being
lost had almost doubled to one percent, which was a total loss of 17
million hectares a year, with the main culprit thought to be the
expansion of agriculture in developing countries.
Research
indicates that the world is losing some 17 million hectares of forest
a year, which is equivalent to 36 football fields a minute. According
to Conservation International, nearly half of the world’s natural
forests have now been lost. Truth of the matter is that deforestation
is estimated to account for 15 percent of all greenhouse gas
emissions, and it is therefore an important driver of climate change.
According to Conservation International, almost one in four people
depend on forests for their livelihoods, while around USD300bn of
forest products, such as timber, bamboo, and fruits, are traded every
year.
The
literature shows that these are not new issues, and that they were a
hot topic of discussion at the 1992 Rio Conference, which famously
ended with 108 governments adopting three agreements: a comprehensive
programme of action for all areas of sustainable development the
world has come to know as Agenda 21. In fact, in understanding the
history around deforestation, we need to understand how the Rio
Declaration on Environment and Development established a series of
principles defining the rights and responsibilities of states; as
well as the Forest Principles to underpin the sustainable management
of forests worldwide. Although these agreements were non-binding,
they provided fertile ground for future programmes by outlining
proposals for preventing deforestation, as well as pledges for all
countries to seek to make an effort for a greener world through
reforestation and forest conservation, while also recognizing that
countries have a right to develop forests sustainably according to
their needs.
Why
REDD+ matters
First
introduced at COP11 in Montreal in 2005 by a group of countries led
by Papua New Guinea calling themselves the Coalition of Rainforest
Nations, they suggested rewarding governments, companies, or forest
owners in developing countries for keeping forests standing –
rather than logging them.
This,
however, did not last, with REDD being under-prioritised until two
years later at the Bali Summit, where delegates would discuss
developing an incentive mechanism for “reducing emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation; and the role of conservation,
sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon
stocks in developing countries.” This is the clause that enabled
REDD to transform into REDD+.
REDD+
proponents argued that REDD+ could not only assist in mitigating
climate change, but also support livelihoods, maintain ecosystem
services that underpin the economy, and preserve wildlife and
biodiversity. The Bali agreement had been instrumental in giving
REDD+ credibility to such an extent that it helped launch a range of
programmes at that time, including the UN’s REDD initiative, which
since its establishment in 2008, has secured almost USD200m in
funding.
It
would be the 2009 Copenhagen Summit that would make REDD+ a more
concrete and viable alternative by proposing a national forest
monitoring system and encouraging countries to develop national
strategies. In 2010 in Cancun, further safeguards were added with the
objective of ensuring national REDD+ implementation did not
negatively-affect local populations or the environment.
Finally,
2013’s Warsaw Summit represented a significant step forward for
REDD+ with no fewer than seven decisions that finalized new rules on
how to manage and finance forest protection projects and ensure they
achieve the promised reductions in emissions.
Although
REDD+ has gained ground in Ghana, through the work of the Forestry
Commission, it has not met with universal approval worldwide yet.
Conservationists are also fearful that forest communities could be
persuaded to sign away their rights to land by rogue carbon traders
who fail to adequately-protect the forest and ensure carbon emission
reductions are delivered.
Recent
developments offer encouraging signs that the fight against climate
change, using REDD+, is making waves. On the international front,
September played witness to the New York Declaration where hundreds
of governments, businesses, NGOs, and indigenous people’s groups
jointly pledged to halve the loss of forests by the end of the decade
and halt it entirely 10 years after that. In the event this target is
achieved, it could avoid between 4.5 and 8.8 billion tons of carbon
dioxide each year, which is equivalent to removing one billion cars
from the roads.
Here
in Ghana, the Forestry Commission has established the National REDD+
Secretariat at the Climate Change Unit (CCU) as the mode for the
coordination of REDD+ activities. The unit has been staffed by
professionals employed by the Commisison, with the Head of the
Secretariat also serving as the Coordinator of Ghana’s REDD+
programme. This, alone, is insufficient, as awareness-creation on
REDD+ is critical to making mileage on the advocacy of REDD+. It is
universally-recognised as a pivotal element of the readiness process.
The recent roadshow that the Commission embarked on immediately after
its media launch on 19 September is an example of how committed they
are in sensitizing the public, and communities on combating climate
change.
Themed
“Reducing Forest Loss and Climate Change Impacts through REDD+; our
Collective Responsibility”, the roadshow has sought to galvanize
public support for actions and measures targeted at addressing the
drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Ghana. Activities
that were lined up included visits to the Community Resources
Management Areas (CREMA); schools outreach; floats; radio and TV
discussions; documentaries and publication of articles in the print
media.
The
road has been long, but it certainly has been a significant step in
ensuring Ghanaians begin to appreciate and understand the fact that
climate change will not go away, and so every effort must be made –
no matter how small – to start combating it, with awareness on
REDD+ being a very important component.
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