SPECIAL SESSION OF AMCEN ON CLIMATE CHANGE, NAIROBI 25 TH – 29 TH MAY 2009 Case Study : Ghanas CC vulnerability assessment Presented by : Rudolph S. Kuuzegh Director, Min of Environment, Science & Technology, Ghana

Outline of Presentation Ghana: UNFCCC Implementation Objective of the Study Scope & focus Vulnerability defined Climatic trends and projections Lessons learned Challenges encountered Recommendations

Signed the Convention at Rio Conference June, Ratified Convention on 5 th September Ratified the Kyoto Protocol 16 th November Deposited the Instrument of Ratification at UNHqrs in NY, March By these acts, Ghana bound itself to meeting the obligations under the Convention and the Protocol. Ghanas UNFCCC and KP History

History contd In further fulfillment of obligations under the Convention; -Prepared and submitted to the COP initial national communication with support from GEF and other bilaterals. e.g. NCAP with Netherlands support. -Prepared the 2 nd communication; to be published soon.

Objective of the Study -Assist developing Ghana, and may be others, in preparing, formulating, implementing and evaluating policies in relation to CC -Raise awareness of the problem of CC -Increase the involvement of policy makers, scientists, broad layers of the population in the CC debate -Impact the UNFCCC negotiating process through raising of burning issues -Establish environment and development interaction for national sustainable development

Scope of the study -Limited to eight (8) thematic areas -Data limitations -Inability to obtain a longer time series e.g. for fish yields to match the climate parameters -Resource limitations -GPRS does not focus on CC issues

Focus -Building capacity -Dissemination of the outcome of the 1 st communication -Sensitization of policy makers e.g. MP(s), Senior Public Servants of relevant MDA(s) on the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol

Vulnerability The sensitivity, resilience and capacity of a system to adopt to stress, perturbation or fragility Chris Park, Lancaster University, UK defines vulnerability as the process of estimating the susceptibility to potential natural hazards, or environmental changes

Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment From national vulnerability assessments, it has more apparent that climate change will affect the economy of Ghana because of observed adverse impacts on the following sectors –Human health - increase in diseases incidence and prevalence such as malaria, CSM, guinea worm, diarrhoea, etc. –Agriculture - reduced yields/quantities Cocoa production Root-crops (cassava, yam and cocoyam) production Fisheries production –Land management – decrease in soil fertility, increase in desertification and biodiversity loss –Water Resources – decrease in available water –Coastal Zone – exacerbated coastal erosion

Climate Scenarios in Ghana In addition, following have been carried out: –Climate Scenarios have been developed using base data 1960 – 2000 and projections up to 2080 for all agro-ecological zones –Climate change and poverty incidences –Impact of climate change on womens livelihood

Historical Climate Data 1.Trends Historical climate data observed by the Ghana Meteorological Agency across the country between 1960 and 2000, (a forty- year period), show a progressive and discernible rise in temperature and a concomitant decrease in rainfall in all agro-ecological zones of the country.

2. Temperature Future climate change scenarios developed, based on the forty-year observed data, also indicate that temperature will continue to rise on average of about 0.6oC, 2.0oC and 3.9oC by the year 2020, 2050 and 2080 respectively, in all agro-ecological zones in Ghana.

3. Rainfall Rainfall is also predicted to decrease on average by 2.8%, 10.9% and 18.6% by 2020, 2050 and 2080 respectively in all agro-ecological zones.

4. Sea level rise Scenarios of sea level changes with respect to 1990 mean predict an average rise of 5.8cm, 16.5cm and 34.5cm by 2020, 2050 and 2080 respectively. Already at the current sea level, the east coast of Ghana, (Keta area) is experiencing an annual coastal erosion rate of 3 meters.

Graphical presentation of trends and projections by ecological zones

16 Sudan Savannah Zone

17 Guinea Savannah Zone

18 Transitional Zone

19 Forest Zone

20 Rain-Forest Zone

21 Coastal Savannah Zone

23

24 Scenarios for Mean Sea Level Rise

Eight (8) Thematic Areas Agric (cereals), coastal areas, water resources were assessed in an earlier phase. 2 nd phase was conducted on the ff eight thematic areas; CC Scenarios development CC impact on fisheries CC impact on human health CC impact on land management CC impact and poverty linkages CC impact on root crop production CC impact and womens livelihoods CC impact and Cocoa production

Key Lessons Ghanas economy is highly dependent on climate sensitive sectors which have to be watched closely Strong relationship between climate and poverty levels Inadequate relevant data and information for facilitating the appreciation of climate change Policy makers and businesses need to consider climate change as a priority for poverty reduction programmes

Challenges encountered CC not prioritized in the GPRS. CC is just another development challenge among many others such as HIV/AIDS etc Adaptation strategies more on sector basis (cross cutting issues and inter linkages not inadequately addressed) Time series for study restrictive e.g. in the fisheries sector Resources adequate but not sufficient

Recommendations Deeply involve policy makers, businesses and other major stakeholders esp. women Encourage Climate Change Research and Education Develop insurance schemes Strengthen institutions & organizations Build & disseminate early warning systems Strengthen Regional Collaboration

Thank you