Transcript (ITU) / Ghana experiences in National Planning for ICTs, Climate

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) / Ghana
experiences in National Planning for ICTs, Climate
Change and Development
Mrs Helen Asiamah
Deputy Director
Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana
Economy – average 13% GDP growth per
annum (2011 est.)
Population – 24mio @ 2010
2.7% annual growth rate
National Development Blue Print
Ghana Shared Growth & Development Agenda
National Climate Change
Policy Framework
Major economic development sectors
Mining
Oil and Gas
Cocoa
Agriculture
(GDP- 42%)
Services
(GDP
ICT – 7%)
Electricity generation – 50%:40% mix. hydro + thermal + RE (Renewable energy bill passed)
Economic cost of environmental degradation estimated at 9% of GDP (World Bank)
Negative Impacts of Climate Change on vulnerable economic sectors –
agriculture, coastal zone, health, energy production, Infrastructure (ICT) etc.
Ratified UNFCCC and KP. Submitted NC1 & NC2 to UNFCCC in 2000 and 2011 respectively
Climate-related information (1 of 1)
 Total GHG emission
is estimated
24MtCO2e. Equivalent of 1tCO2e
Sector
by sectorto be Source:
Ghana’s NC2 to UNFCCC, 2011
per capita.
 Energy, Agriculture and Land use change and forestry are the sources of
GHG.
 Energy production, consumption and transport constitute key source of
emissions. Oil exploitation is expected to impact on the emission growth
in future.
 CO2 and CH4 are the major important GHG gases.
 Evidence of climate change is abound in Ghana. Temperature has
increased by between 0.6OC and 0.8OC since 1960. Projected to
increased more between 1.1OC and 1.7OC between 2020 and 2080.
Climate-related information (2 of 1)
 Across the country, rainfall levels are generally projected to decrease with
the same time horizons (2020 to 2080).
 Manifestations of extreme weather events (drought, flooding etc) and sea
level rise impacts are evident in Ghana.
 Impacts of climate change has been identified as additional threat to the
economy of Ghana. Sectors are climate sensitive (particularly, agriculture,
water, infrastructure etc).
 Vulnerability spread defined by: poverty, geographical spread, livelihoods
sources, infrastructural resilience, access to risk information, gender etc.
ICT Sector in Ghana (3 of 1)
 Widespread availability of efficient and reliable telecommunication services in
Ghana.
 Growing and highly competitive market. 6 international market players (as
service providers) with independent government regulation. Potential to
grow????
 Aggregated energy or GHG intensity is high. Could potentially increase with
large footprints (large due to expansion of coverage).
 High climate risk to, and impacts on telecommunication infrastructure. (In
Ghana, they are largely installed as single units preferably on high grounds)
– effects on quality of service to customers.
Affordable ICT Options in Ghana
 Telecommunication - high penetration (households, urban, sub-urban areas,
some transit communities, limited in rural areas), advance technologies for
messaging (text and image), internet connection, fiber optic connectivity.
 Internet connectivity - wide use (cafes, offices, homes, schools and limited
in sub-urban and rural areas). Generally poor speed, application areas may
include broadly: business, telecom, social media, emailing, search engines.
 Access to computers and application: increasing use and access, for
commercial, private and official purposes, special form for application use
(weather forecasting, banking, telecommunication, geographical position
systems), limited use in rural and sub-urban areas.
 Radio and TV – proliferated use. Great deal of access (wide coverage –
urban to rural areas). Efficient mode of information dissemination.
Opportunities for ICT in Climate Change in Ghana
 Green ICT service delivery - opportunites for low GHG footprint
interventions – eg. Solar powered mast units, energy efficiency practices.
( requires government incentive for scale up)
 ICT industry offers wide ranging opportunities for developing and
deploying climate change early warning services. Cheap, wide coverage,
reliable platform of disseminating climate risk information to targeted
vulnerable groups. Opportunity exist in Ghana greatly.
 There is need to ensure “common platform connectivity” in order to reach
the geographically excluded vulnerable groups.
 Platform for awareness creation. Cheap and wide coverage.
 Corporate Responsibility agenda – could be good avenue to leverage
local private sector finance to support national climate change activities.
Strategy and Coordination of Climate Change in Ghana
 Climate Change is featured in the Ghana Shared Growth Development
Agenda.
 Ministry of MEST through the National Climate Change Committee is
coordinating the development of a National Climate Change Policy
Framework.
 NCCPF will provide strategic direction and national framework to
addressing climate change comprehensively in Ghana.
National Strategies
 Targeted at :
 Mainstreaming climate change into national development planning.
(climate smart economic development - development to build climate
resilience with low carbon footprint) – national, sector and district levels
 Facilitating implementation of UNFCCC
 Coordinating and harmonizing climate change activities
 Consultation and awareness
ICT,
energy,
industry,
waste,
forestry
Climate
Sustainable
consumption
patterns
Change
Cleaner
Production
National
Development
Low footprint
Efficiency
Climate-smart economy
Environment
ally Sound
Technologies
GSGDA (2010 -2013) – Key Focus Area 9 (Climate Change specific)
LCD
Strategic
areas
Adaptation
Low Carbon
Development
Support core elements
of low carbon
development
National Budget
(Budget Guideline on
Climate change)
NCCPF Pillars
Mainstreaming of
CC/DRR
Facilitate
mainstreaming of
CC/DRR national
planning
CC/DRR
mainstreaming
guidebook
Social Development
Enhance Capacity for
Community Activities
Pilot at the community
level - project
District Medium Term
Development Plan
Capacity building
Governance &
coordination
Research &
knowledge
management
International
cooperation
Low Carbon
Development
NCCFP
Adaptation
Social
Development
Finance
Monitoring &
Reporting
communication
Institutional Arrangement for coordinating Climate Change in Ghana
National Development Planning Framework
NREAG
MEST
Strategic Level
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Coordination &
Harmonisation
NADMO
EPA
CCU
CC
National
REDD+
Steering
Committee
ccu
CDM/
DNA
CC
ccu
ccu
CC
CC
Forestry
Commission
REDD+ Secretariat
Source: Tutu Benefoh,ccu
2010
Energy
Commission
(EECCU)
Operational Level
ccu
Key:
CC
NCCC – National Climate Change Committee, MoFeP: Ministry of
Finance and Economic Planning, NDPC: National Development
CC
Planning Commission, MLNR: Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, MoFA: Ministry of Agriculture, MEST: Ministry of
Environment, Science and Technology, CSOs: Civil Society Organizations; CCU: Climate Change Unit, EECCU: Energy Efficiency
and Climate Change Unit, CDM/DNA: Clean Development Mechanism/Designated National Authority, MoEn: Ministry of Energy,
DPs: Donor Partners, MFA: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PoGH: Parliament of Ghana, MoI: Ministry of Interior, NREAG: Natural
Resource and Environment Advisory Group
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Ghana Environmental Protection Agency
 The
National Focal Point for Climate Change in Ghana is the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
 The EPA works closely with key frontline sector-institutions on
climate change related issues in the country such as the agriculture,
forestry, energy, health, communications and finance.
 The Agency had worked on and continues to work in a number of
climate change programmes and projects.
Lessons from Vodafone-EPA Partnership in Ghana
 EPA, Ghana and Vodafone Ghana Limited are partnering to
implement the first ICT climate change project in Ghana.
 The project was aimed at demonstrating possibilities of developing
early warning platform at the local government level. Individual cell
phone units are intended as the medium of dissemination of
information.
 The challenge has been access to “reliable connectivity”
 Project also seeks to contribute to setting industry standards as part
of regulation.
 Awareness creation component
Major challenges
 Lack of industry best practices.
 Connectivity problems in sub-urban towns and rural areas.
 General lack of awareness and capacity in the industry.
 Lack of incentive for early action or pioneering and innovation.
 Regulation is generally focused on bandwidth allocation and service
delivery. Industry standard setting is delimited.
Outlook
Major outcomes &
relevance to COP 17
“Accra call for action”
6th ITU symposium on ICTs, the environment and climate
change
Major outcomes & relevance to COP 17
 Mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and the management of e-waste are
critical in Africa.
 Adaptation to climate change can be effective by making better use of ICT to
gather information, process it and disseminate it to those most vulnerable.
 By adopting a 'closed-loop' approach to manufacturing and recycling the need to
extract and process raw materials, can be much reduced.
 6th ITU Symposium in Accra, Ghana, concluded with the adoption of a “Call to
Action” to raise awareness and build capacity on using ICTs to tackle climate
change.
Accra, Call for Action
 The symposium called on the global leaders, environmental experts and
representatives from international organizations, NGOs and other sectors
that will gather in the COP-17 to :
1.
Recognize the phenomenal power of ICTs to assist countries to
mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
2.
Recognize the increasingly widespread use of ICTs in changing many
people’s lives and boosting economic growth, and that although ICTs
are also a growing contributor to greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions,
they also provide one of the most significant opportunities to reduce
emissions of GHG, through the application of intelligent ICT systems.
3.
Further recognize that ICTs also reduce manufacturing needs by
replacing material goods with virtual products, such as online
music downloads.
4.
Take into account the role that ICT plays as a catalyst to climate
change adaptation which will help countries’ preparedness for a
more risky future.
5.
Enhance the transformational role of ICT for climate change
adaptation and disaster risk reduction, will require the use of three
technology types: telecommunication systems, observation
systems, and information systems.
6.
Recognize that there is need to build capacities in developing countries
to support ICT as tool for climate change adaptation and disaster risk
reduction
7.
Forge partnerships and engage all stakeholders to address climate
change, due to its multi-disciplinary nature, is critical. There is the need
to work closely with the private sector (especially within the ICT
industry) and the youth on this front
8.
Emphasize that ICTs play a critical role in providing education and
information through broadcasting, Internet and other means of
communication and also the role played by ICTs in remote monitoring
of the Earth by satellite and by sensors on the ground and in the ocean
9.
Note that the use of ICTs in monitoring can provide data and
information on deforestation, for instance, or on crop patterns that
indicate possible food shortages and that ICTs are vital in disaster
alerting which is closely linked to climate change, and that ICT are
essential in disaster response by humanitarian organizations and
individuals.
9.
Recognize that the production and use of ICT equipment is increasing
worldwide very fast, leaving rapidly growing amounts of e-waste
behind. If not handled in a sound manner, e-waste poses a serious
threat to human health, the environment and contributes substantially
to GHG emissions.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) - GHANA
CC
INTERVENTIONS
INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE
CHANGE NEGOTIATIONS
TECHNOLOGY NEEDS
ASSESSMENT FOR
CLIMATE
ADAPTATION
PREPARATION OF
NATIONAL
COMMUNICATIONS
GREEN HOUSE
GAS
INVENTORY
NATIONALLY APPROPRIATE
MITIGATION ACTIONS (NAMAS)
CLIMATE
CHANGE &
ICTs
OTHERS
LOCAL PARTNERS
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
Vodafone Ghana
Ghana Meteorological Agency
NADMO
Integrating Climate Change into
Telecommunications Industry in
Ghana
INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS
ITU
UNFCCC
• Develop and produce a country assessment based on some
of the key areas within the Bali Action Plan in line with UNFCCC
guidelines.
Country Study on
How ICT Sector can
Reduce its Own
GHG Emissions
Community
Adaption Through
Early Warning
Systems
MINISTERIAL COLLABORATION
 MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
HOSTED 6TH ITU
CONFERENCE IN
2011
New
Collaboration
with ECOWAS
• Organize a training session on how ICTs can be used to
tackle climate change and how standardized methodologies
can support climate change adaptation and mitigation in
Ghana
• Carry out a pilot project with an ICT company (e.g. to
demonstrate
how
advanced
mobile
communications
technology can be used to tackle climate change)
Thank you