Transcript climate-change-educa.. - Energy Policy Research Group

CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS IN
GHANA
OPPONG-BOADI KYEKYEKU
PRINCIPAL PROGRAMME OFFICER,
ENERGY RESOURCES AND CLIMATE
CHANGE UNIT,
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
ACCRA, GHANA.
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INTRODUCTION
• Climate change has great significance for
sustainable development plans and livelihoods
in Ghana.
• It should be seen as developmental issue for
the country.
• The diversity in agro climatic regimes across the
country from savanna to rainforest with differing
degrees of temperature and rainfall variability,
make discussion of climate change for Ghana
challenging.
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Coastal Savannah Zone
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Forest Zone
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Sudan Savannah Zone
T o t a l a n n u a l R a i n f a l l 1 9 6 1 t o 2 0 0 0 i n t h e Su d a n
Sa v a n a .
1500.0
1400.0
Total(mm)
1300.0
1200.0
1100.0
1000.0
900.0
800.0
700.0
600.0
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
Year
T OT A L
5 per . M ov. A vg. (T OT A L)
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Guinea Savannah Zone
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Transitional Zone
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Rain-Forest Zone
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INTRODUCTION con‘t
• Mainstreaming climate change policy in
Ghana development plan is of major
concern.
• Achievements of the goals of the Ghana
Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy
(GPRSII) and the Millennium Development
Goals (MDG) are critical for national
development.
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INTRODUCTION cont
Ghana is currently preparing the National
Adaptation Strategy on eight sectors of the
Ghanaian Economy. These are Human Health,
Agricultural Production-root and tuber crop
production; Cocoa Production, Fisheries
Production, Land Management, Water
Resources, Poverty Linkages, and Women's
Livelihood .
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Objectives
• Determine socio-economic impacts of climate
change on the various sectors
• Raise awareness on climate change issues of
the Ghanaian population.
• Involve policy makers and the “broad layers“ of
the populatoin on climate change debate
• Propose various adaptation strategies
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Human Health
• Temperature rises will extend the habitats of
vectors of diseases such as malaria.
• Increase temperatures of coastal waters would
aggravate cholera epidemics in coastal areas.
• Threat to National Health Insurance Scheme by
calling for more medical facilities with the
increase demand resulting from more patients
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Agricultural Production
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•
•
•
Employs about 70% of the Ghanaian
population.
Maize and other cereals production will reduce
by 2.4% in the year 2020
Cassava production will decrease by 43%
the 2080
Cocoyam production will decrease from 65.2%
to 52.8% in 2080.
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Cocoa Production
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•
•
Cocoa production will be severely affected by
decreased in soil fertility and increased
diseases incidences and pathogens.
Climate scenarios developed for year 2020,
2050 and 2080, which are based on 40 years
of observed data(1960-2000), indicate that by
2080 cocoa cannot be grown in Ghana.
Since this commodity is the main foreign
exchange earner the occurrence of the above
phenomenon will adversely affect national
economy.
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Fisheries Production
• Inland fisheries will be rendered more
vulnerable because of episodic drought
and habitat destruction.
• Warming of Gulf of Guinea will modify
ocean currents with possible impacts on
coastal marine fisheries.
• The decline in this business will definitely
have a adverse impact on the national
economy.
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Water resources
• Increase in temperature as a result of climate
change will thereby adversely affecting
availability of surface water.
• The conversion factor of precipitation to run off
has been very low averaging about 15%.
• In the Volta basin, their run off decreased by
30% over the past three decades.
• Recent low water level in the Akosombo Dam
has threatened hydroelectric generation.
• Change in climatic variability will negatively
impact on the Dam thereby directly affecting the
national economy.
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Poverty Linkages
• Climate change does affect food supply, water
resources, energy supply and human health.
This was based on research that was carried out
in 110 districts in Ghana.
• In areas of high temperatures and low rainfall,
the incidence of poverty was higher whiles
districts that have high rainfall and relatively low
temperatures have relatively low incidence of
poverty.
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Women's Livelihood
• Women depend on their ecosystems for services e.g.
food and energy.
• Women constitute 52% of the agricultural labour force
and produce 70% of subsistence crops.
• Post harvest fisheries activities provide a livelihood
opportunities for women.
• Women's livelihood are readily linked to adequate
quantity and quality of water resources.
• Biomass energy accounts for large quantities of energy
consumption for women in their livelihood.
• Sustainable development must give recognition to the
livelihood of women.
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Biodiversity and Climate Change
• Climate change will affect land-cover species,
water supply, fuel wood, and other ecological
services.
• The formal and informal sectors of our economy
are strongly based on natural resources:
agriculture, logging, eco-tourism, pastoralism
and mining.
• Climatic variability and change that alter the
viability of these activities will have very high
impact on our economy and ultimately on the
national security.
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Desertification
• Land degradation and precipitation. It alters patterns in
temperature, rainfall, solar insulation, and winds. .
• The Guinea, Sudan and Coastal Savannah areas, the
transition zones and even the forest regions have
experienced declines in rainfall, resulting in decreases in
soil fertility and agricultural, livestock, forest, and
rangeland production.
• It will lead to socio-economic instability and unrest,
increased rural-urban migration and potential increase in
conflicts as result of limited available lands for farming
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Infrastructure development
• Transport, housing and services represents
substantial investment by our government.
• Floods, dust storms, and other extremes
weather events would result in damage to
settlements and infrastructure and affect human
health.
• Major industries and the only two harbours are
located along the coasts.
• Sea level rise, coastal erosion, salt water
intrusion and flooding will have significant
impacts on coastal communities and the
economy as whole.
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Energy Resources
• Basically fuel wood, hydro and thermal
power
• Bio-diesel and gas fuel will provide energy
security and produce less greenhouse
gases thereby reducing climate change.
• Customers are advised to purchase
appliances that are properly labeled.
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Adaptation options
Human Health
• Public health educational campaign,
• strengthen local participation in climate change issues,
• early detection of diseases and early planning.
Agricultural Production
• Planting of one variety with different maturity periods,
• adopt integrated nutrient management,
• changing cropping system,
• breeding early maturing varieties,
• integrating tree growing and crops,
• efficient storage system and
• integrating climate change into agriculture, growth and poverty
reduction.
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Adaptation cont
Cocoa Production
• Improved farming practices
This option involves;
• the use of drought tolerant and high yielding planting materials;
• Zero tillage.
• non-burning of vegetation and mulching for conservation of soil
moisture.
• Planting temporary and permanent shade trees to moderate the
microclimatic and edaphic conditions of the cocoa environment.
• Supplementary water application through irrigation.
• Rehabilitation and restoration of degraded forest through forest
management techniques.
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Cont
Cocoa Production
• Alternative livelihoods
• Development of off-farm income
generating activities (e.g. artisanal work
and petty trading);
• Alternative land use activities (e.g. planting
of other crops such as citrus, livestock
farming and fish farming
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Adaptation cont
Water Resources
• Artificial recharge of groundwater to reduce
evaporation
• Building reservoirs on rivers with run-off at the
river intake points
• Maintenance of water bodies and keeping them
functional
• Reuse and recycling of industrial water and use
of dry cleaning technologies
• Adoption of new technologies for growing crops
with less water
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Adaptation Cont
Poverty and Climate Change
• Research
• Insurance
• Strengthen government institutions
• Development of early warning systems
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Infrastructure Development
• Infrastructure development should be
robust
• Development should be resilient and
climate friendly
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Adaptation Cont
Energy Resources and Climate Change
• Energy efficient and conservation measuresInvestment in CFLs
• Promotion clean energy technologies like solar
energy and LPG utilization
• Renewable energy sources offer a better solution
to climate problems in addition to reducing C02.
• Trees growing should be encouraged
• Efficient Refrigeration to be backed by legislation
• There should be a Renewable Energy law.
• Development of renewable energy resources and
integrate them in to the National Energy mix.
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Adaptation cont
Women livelihood
• There is the need to create awareness
among women on various developmental
issues
• Extension services should be provided to
women engaged in agriculture
• Women should be provided access to
financial credit
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Conclusion
• Action aimed at both adaptation and mitigation
can contribute to development
• Advancing development goals in a sustainable
way should thus be central part efforts to
address climate change in all countries.
• Emphasis on win-win policies that can
simultaneously achieve development.
• Mainstreaming climate change in national
development policies, plans and programmes
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