GHANA'S INSTITUTIONAL AND
GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS
FOR REDD+INTERNATIONAL REDD+ SEMINAR
University of Tokyo, Feb 3-4 2015

YAW KWAKYE
MANAGER,CLIMATE CHANGE UNIT/NATIONAL REDD+ SECRETARIAT,FORESTRY COMMISSION, GHANAOUTLINE• Background Country Information• Ghana’s REDD+ Readiness Process• Towards Realizing REDD+• REDD+ Governance: Context, Experiences andChallenges• Key initiatives that seek to enhance transparency
and good governance in Ghana• ConclusionBACKGROUND COUNTRY INFO
• Ghana is a West African democratic
state with a land area of 23.9 million
ha. and a population of
approximately 24 million people• Largely agrarian economy, as well as
key extractive industries i.e.
minerals, timber and lately off-shore
oil and gas• Two broad ecological zones; HighForest and Savanna, and a fastexpanding Transition Zone
• 80% of Ghana’s forest cover lost overa period of a century (1900-2000)

GHANA’S REDD+ READINESS PROCESS•

Ghana’s REDD+ Readiness wasformally launched in 2012 and isbeing supported by the Forest
Carbon Partnership Facility.

•First phase of REDD+ Readiness wassuccessfully completed in 2014 anda second phase commences thisyear.

•Complementaryinitiatives
forGhana’s REDD+ Readiness include
VPA-FLEGT, FIP, NREG etc.

•Ghana is developing an Emissions
Reduction programme that seeks tosignificantly curb carbon emissions
from the cocoa sector in a
programmatic approachTOWARDS REALIZING REDD+• Ghana’s Vision for REDD+ is to significantly reduce
emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
by 40% over the next ten years, whilst at the same time
addressing threats that undermine ecosystem services
and environmental integrity• This will be pursued through a 3-pronged strategy; Strategic Intervention 1: Improving Land-use and socioeconomic development in the High Forest Zone and cocoa
growing areas.
 Strategic Intervention 2: Addressing wood harvesting andagricultural practices in the ‘transition’ and savannah zone.
 Strategic Intervention 3: Policy and legislative reforms to
support REDD+ and a sustainable Forestry sector.

REDD+ GOVERNANCE• Good governance is recognized as
an important bedrock for criticalfor achieving REDD+.
• It encompasses Legality (rules tocheck abuses and resolveconflicts); Legitimacy (acceptanceand trust by stakeholders that
ensure accountability); andParticipation (inclusiveness indecision-making)

Legality

Legitimacy

Participation

PRINCIPLES & ELEMENTS OF
GOVERNANCE FOR REDD+Accountability
Effectiveness
Efficiency
Equity/Fairness
Participation

Institutional, Policy,
Legal andRegulatory
Frameworks

Planningand Policymaking
Processes

Implementation
Enforcement
andComplianceTransparency

CREDIT: FAO/WB, 2011

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

Stakeholder engagement andparticipation has been very
extensive during Ghana’s
REDD+ Readiness process.
The process has been guided
by a Consultation andParticipation Plan and a
Communication Strategy thatadopts a variety ofapproaches for enhanced
awareness and action

POLICY ENVIRONMENT•••••

The existing national policy and strategy frameworks
provide a good basis for implementation ofenvironmental initiatives including REDD+.
Ghana’s current development blueprint, GSGDA,
articulates the commitment of government toaddress climate change as a matter of priority.
The revised Forest and Wildlife Policy (2012)
recognise REDD+ as essential for Ghana’s Low
Carbon Growth and Sustainable Forest ManagementAgenda.
The National Renewable Energy Policy has also beenpromulgated, aimed at sustainable fuelwood supplyand consumption
Two national policy documents—the National
Climate Change Policy (NCCP) and the revised
National Environment Policy were launched by thePresident in mid-2014

OTHER REDD+ POLICY ISSUES• The frameworks dealing with Strategic Social andEnvironmental Assessment (SESA), Grievance
Redress Mechanisms, Benefit Sharing andMonitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV)
have been developed and implementation
initiated within the boundaries of the National
REDD+ Strategy• Grass-root participation in landuse planning andpolicy making processes is critical for broad
stakeholder buy-inLEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS• Ghana has signed onto several international environmental treaties
including CITES; UNFCCC, CBD etc. and has consequently put inplace national policies and legislation to meet these commitments.
• It is well acknowledged that the legal regime for REDD+ isinadequate and this deficiency will be addressed as the mechanism
evolves over time. Particularly carbon property rights will need to
be clearly established.
• Robust legal measures will be needed to ensure accountability withfuture cash inflows from REDD activities• In 2015, preliminary studies on financial management
arrangements for REDD+ and Alternative Dispute Resolution will becommissioned as a step toward enactment of REDD-related laws inthe near future.
• Steps are being taken to strengthen Law enforcement in the land
use sector to check illegal logging and mining activities

SOME KEY POINTSENABLERS• Strong democratic culture• Vibrant civil society• Incentives and sanctions forcompliance• Political will andcommitment• Capacity building• Sound information/datamanagement (REDD+Registry etc.)

BARRIERS• Resistance to change• Low levels of awareness• Civic indifference• Lack of institutional capacity
at different levels• Absence of third party
performance audits• Poor expectationmanagement

KEY INITIATIVES THAT SEEKS ENHANCE TRANSPARENCY AND
GOOD GOVERNANCE IN GHANA’S REDD+ PROCESSREDDX• REDDX–eXpenditures

REDD+• Annual
Initiative
undertaken by NCRC andForestry
Commission
since 2011
• Purpose is to provide
transparent and reliable
information on financial
flows for REDD+ activities
in Ghana• Extractive
Industries
Transparency Initiative

CONCLUSION• Good governance practice engenders trust, broad
stakeholder acceptance and sense of ownershipamong different stakeholders, and reduces the risksof conflict or failure of REDD+ projects.
• Ghana has made modest progress in REDD+
Readiness particularly on issues related to forest/
REDD+ Governance and will continue to count on
our international partners for support in this pursuit.

THANK YOU