The Climate Change Directorate (CCD) of the Forestry Commission (FC) has held a meeting to engage stakeholders on the United Arab Emirate (UAE) – Ghana Partnership.

At the recently held 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Governments of Ghana and the UAE signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for a partnership for sustainable forest, and climate actions.

Ghana will secure US$30,000,000.00 grant from the UAE, aimed at providing additional/alternative livelihood support to forest fringe communities as an incentive for them to engage in enhanced forest protection, forest restoration and reforestation. This forms part of efforts by the Government of Ghana to achieve the biodiversity and climate objectives under the Resilient Ghana Package launched at COP28 in Dubai, last year.

The stakeholder engagement sought to provide a thorough update on the partnership, insights and to seek inputs from stakeholders.

Ms. Roselyn Fosuah Adjei, Director, CCD, in her opening remarks, mentioned that the meeting sought to apprise stakeholders on this new partnership to revamp climate action towards a particular trajectory of interventions. She said, “This is to inform on what to expect, what stage we are in and to strengthen existing partnerships”. She also encouraged the participants to bring forward all inputs, questions and comments to be considered in the final drafting of the provisions of the partnership. This she said is very crucial, as the stakeholders are key to implementing the set targets.

The Chief Executive of FC, Mr. John Allotey, welcomed all partners present especially, COCOBOD and acknowledged the various forest fringe community members, district, and regional managers present. He commended them for their hard work in the field for carrying out project goals in their various communities. He also took the opportunity to appreciate the efforts and contributions of the Government of UAE. “We need to be clear on what we want to achieve, that is why we are here today”, he said, urging involvement by all.

Mr. Thomas Gyambrah, Manager, MRV and Programs of CCD, gave a presentation on the provisions of “REDD+”, “Resilient Ghana”, mentioning that the action areas for Ghana in this bid are conservation, restoration, sustainable agriculture, building an inclusive, fair and prosperous economy through industrialization and rural development, reducing emissions by over 12 million tons by 2030, among others. He concluded by stating that the final document would be completed by the end of October 2024 as the UAE delegation will be in Ghana in the first week of November to follow up. He hinted that the meeting is a continuous process and not a one-time event.
There was a question and answer, and photo sessions to climax the day.

In attendance were representatives from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Ghana Cocoa Board; Tropenbos Ghana; World Cocoa Foundation (COCOBOD); Forest Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG); Ghana Statistical Service and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources. Also present were Hotspot Management Boards (HMBs) members, and some District and Regional Managers from the Greater Accra, Eastern, Western, Western North, Central, Ashanti, Bono, and Ahafo Regions.