My latest column for Infoboxx on how Ghana can give its climate change commitments some teeth post-COP21:
As the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP21, draws to a close on December 11, success will be marked by the measures taken to slow the pace of climate change in Africa, the region that causes the least environmental damage, yet suffers the most. At this year’s conference, African heads of state showed they meant business: they arrived with a unified front and policy points. Forty-seven African countries submitted their “intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs),” outlines of their respective strategic plans to mitigate climate change. The pledges were impressive: Comoros, a small island nation north of Madagascar, committed to reducing emissions by 84% while Ghana committed to a 15% reduction (pledging to increase its commitment to 45% if external support were made available).
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The INDCs and the AfDB plan can be successful if they follow the four essential elements for climate change success that UN Secretary Ban-Ki Moon laid out in an op-ed in Le Monde: durability, flexibility, solidarity, and credibility.
How can Ghana, in particular, craft a sustainable mitigation strategy that recognises these principles?