The Minister of State in-charge of Climate Change and Sustainability, Seidu Issifu, has presented a comprehensive progress report on the nation’s climate agenda.
He described climate action as not being a charity but rather “an investment in Ghana’s future stability, resilience and prosperity”.
Taking his turn at the government accountability series in Accra yesterday, Mr Issifu said over the past year, his outfit had succeeded in establishing climate and sustainability units in most ministries, departments and agencies.
The office, which operates from the Presidency with a whole-of-government coordination mandate, also convened an inaugural Inter-ministerial and Agency Technical Working Group meeting on May 30, 2025, bringing together key stakeholders to align sectoral policies with national climate priorities.
Strategic partnerships
In a major diplomatic push, the office also signed 10 non-binding cooperative agreements with strategic international institutions focusing on climate finance mobilisation, renewable energy development, carbon market development and climate-resilient agriculture.
Mr Issifu announced that he had been appointed as a board member of a Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) V20 — finance ministers’ arm of a 74-nation coalition of climate-vulnerable developing countries.
“This further reinforces the nation’s contribution to global climate discussions on climate finance reforms,” he added.
Ghana’s voice had been actively represented at COP30 in Berlin, the UNFCCC SB62 in Bonn, the African Climate Summit in Addis and IMF-World Bank V20 annual meetings, among others.
Engagements
Mr Issifu further said that his office had facilitated structured engagement between the CVF and national institutions, including the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund, Consolidated Bank Ghana, and Ghana Investment Promotion Centre to identify priority climate investment opportunities.
These institutions presented initiatives across renewable energy, climate-resilient infrastructure, sustainable agriculture and early warning systems for consideration by international financing partners.
Challenges
The minister, however, acknowledged some lingering challenges such as limited technical capacity in carbon markets, slow accreditation processes for accessing major climate finance mechanisms, growing donor fatigue and heavy reliance on loan-based climate finance.
“These realities underscore the urgency for reform and innovation,” he said.
Mr Issifu said the office would prioritise increasing funded programmes, advancing accreditation of national entities to access climate funds, scaling up renewable energy, and deepening the nation’s carbon market participation.
“Our long-term objective is to position Ghana as a regional leader in climate resilience, sustainable industrialisation and climate-smart investment,” he said.
Source:
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