Ghana and Switzerland have signed a roadmap for the implementation of the climate protection agreement the two countries signed in March 2020 during President Akufo-Addo’s official state visit to the European nation.
The agreement was signed today 7 July 2021, between the former president of the Swiss Confederation and current Swiss Minister for Environment, Traffic, Energy and Communications, Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga, and her Ghanaian counterpart Dr Kweku Afriyie, minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation in Accra.
Parliament is expected to ratify the agreement to pave way for its full implementation in Ghana.
Switzerland is a global pioneer when it comes to climate protection, setting a standard for international climate projects that respect both human rights and nature.
In recent months, Switzerland has signed bilateral agreements with Ghana and Peru for carbon offsetting projects in these two countries and similar agreements are being prepared for other countries.
Ahead of the signing of the roadmap, Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga, held discussions with the Minister for Energy, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, Dr Kweku Afriyie, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and host of experts from both Ghana and Switzerland.
Their discussions focused mainly on measures to implement Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Sommaruga, during her presentation gave the assurance that the private sector will be able to benefit from the carbon credits system laid out in the Swiss – Ghanaian bilateral agreement.
Sommaruga also presented SECO’s (the Swiss federal government’s centre of excellence for all core issues relating to economic and labour market policy) country strategy for Ghana, which is a SECO priority country for economic development cooperation for the 2021-2024 period. Switzerland, according to her, intends to allocate a total of CHF 65 million for economic development and cooperation in Ghana.
Sommaruga later paid a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House. The president noted that Ghana remains committed to strengthening her relations with Switzerland.
He added that his administration will do all it takes to achieve same.
Wilberforce Asare
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