Strategic recommendations for Ghana’s transition into a low carbon economy

I wish to seize this singular opportunity to congratulate the former President of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor for his recent appointment as a United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Change. I agree with the former president on his description of his responsibility as "daunting".

When I first heard the news, I had mixed feelings for two reasons. First of all, I thought our country has not done enough to combat global warming caused by climate change to deserve this recognition. However, this prompted me to start researching on the country's records on carbon dioxide emissions reduction targets but the closest I got to was only something on Ghana's acceptance and ratification of Kyoto Protocol on climate change on 30th May, 2003 which came into force on the16th of February, 2005.

On the contrary, I felt the appointment of our former president for this important position could serve as impetus to engineer sound policies towards the use of cleaner, greener energy sources for our expected accelerated economic growth. The latter is where my hope lies. It is better late than never. Ghana must begin putting her climate change policies (if any) into action.

Even though extra burden of carbon dioxide reductions lies on the highly industrialised countries, Ghana has a responsibility since combating the climate change is a collective one. As Margaret Thatcher of blessed of memory put it, "no generation has a freehold on this earth." And I dare say that no country, both industrialised and developing ones, can escape the effects of the climate change. One of the major challenges of the 21st century and the greatest threat facing the human race is climate change. Therefore, to combat the debacle more effectively, collective effort is needed irrespective of the size of a country's economy or contributions to the climate change.

Currently, most countries such as China, United States of America, India and Russia run carbon intensive economies in all sectors of their national discourse; with China and the United States of America emitting 23.5% and 18.27% of the world's carbon dioxide respectively. A country is said to operate a high carbon economy when it's productive sectors emit high levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The degree of the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere is what precipitates the phenomenon of global warming. In the global ranking, Ghana emits only 0.03% of the world's carbon dioxide. This might be seen to be insignificant but considering the country's per capita growth in recent times. It is frightening, since the level of emissions of a country tends to increase as the economy grows.

The far reaching effects of climate change can only be reduced through sacrifices and lifestyle changes. So what will be Ghana's energy mix outlook in the next 20 years? Since, moving the fundamentals from high to low carbon economy demands a shift of policies in Ghana. This calls for series of policies and activities geared towards the prevention of the release of greenhouse emissions into atmosphere or removal of the carbon emissions from the environment. I therefore, propose the following strategic though non exhaustive recommendations towards the country's transition into a low carbon economy:

In the interim, the use of fossil energy will still contribute to the world release of carbon dioxide till an alternative is found. So what do we do to deal with the resultant carbon emissions into the atmosphere? Since the climate change occurs due to excess carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, growing more trees (carbon sink) to remove the carbon, could be a natural answer towards low carbon in the country. It is therefore, imperative for the government to take a second look at the afforestation project under SADA in order to serve the Multi-purpose of creating jobs, reducing desertification and serving as carbon sink.

Natural gas should be considered seriously as a long term transitional energy to renewable energy sources in our thermal generation of electricity. The use of natural gas in the interim will be an intelligent move towards the roadmap to less intensive carbon energy and the fight against the climate change. Comparatively, it has the lowest emission record among the first generation energy sources. The cost of production is also lower than oil generation of electricity. In view of this, the roles of the Ghana Gas Company and Western African Gas Pipeline have become more imperative.

The government as matter of policy should also introduce hybrid vehicle technology in the transportation sector to minimise its huge oil consumption. The hybrid vehicles can be an important element in the fight against climate change due to their reduction in petroleum usage. This technology will focus on reducing CO2 emissions from the transport sector in Ghana. In this case, more charging points for electric vehicles should therefore be established and monitored by an agency. To start with, all the government imported vehicles to Ghana should be hybrid vehicles or electric cars.

The Public Utility Regulations Commission should be empowered to embark on energy efficiency and conservation measures. These are some of the measures we can employ to reduce our energy consumption and subsequently pay less electricity bills. Energy efficiency and conservation measures have the potential of promoting economic development, ensuring access to energy and can lead to Job creation and saving of personal income as well as less carbon emissions.

The regulatory frame work can also play significant role in combating the carbon emissions. Carbon credit and taxes should be introduced to regulate the level of carbon emissions among the commercial users of energy. With the carbon tax, a company is taxed based on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) generated from burning fuels. The more the emissions by a company, the more payment of the carbon tax and verse versa.

This will therefore serve as disincentive for companies thereby reducing fuel consumption which intends to reduce their carbon emissions. Carbon credit, on the other hand, acknowledges countries or companies that have contributed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by awarding them credit. More so, if a company in Ghana exceeds its emission quota, it could be made to purchase the excess in the international market at their prevailing market price.

As a long term strategy, the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum should think green. Ghana has huge potentials in the renewable energy sector (solar and wind) which contribute near zero greenhouse gas emissions in the world. These second generation energy sources are clean, renewable and sustainable. The Volta River Authority has done tremendously well by generating more electricity from hydro.

The recent commissioning of 2 mega watts of electricity from solar in Navrongo and the distributions of solar lanterns to rural dwellers also deserve more applause. However, more needs to be done. The potential of the wind energy is spotted along the coast of Ghana which can also be used to complement the other sources of energy productions. Even though the renewable sources of energy is said to be a capital intensive venture, their operating cost is often minimal.

Ghana, as one of the beacons of democracy in Africa, can also take a lead role in the fight against the global climate change if the above strategic recommendations are considered and implemented. However, the fact that countries do not contribute evenly to the climate change signals the daunting task that lies ahead of our former president. The United Kingdom has taken the lead role in combating it. They aim to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050 from the 1990 baseline. However, the USA is yet to ratify and enforce the tenets of the Kyoto Protocol.

Some countries have also developed a semi-conscious plan with the view that they have money to cope with the effects of the climate change. Reconciling these competing interests among the industrialised countries would be the herculean task for our former president. Furthermore, the developing countries view the developed and industrialised countries as having more burden of cutting emissions in order to prevent the climate change. But others also argue that all nations should be held to an equal level of responsibility. The collective responsibility to safeguard our planet is the watch phrase.

Once again, I salute our former president for his new appointment. The task ahead of him is truly not easy. Daunting or herculean; the war against the climate change must soldier on so Mr. J. A. Kufuor, leave your footprints on the sands of time.

Mustapha Iddrisu

Energy Analyst

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