Thursday, 2nd July, 2026
Hon Frank Annoh-Dompreh
Nsawam/Adoagyiri
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.
Mr Speaker, I am indeed happy that Ghana has taken an important early step to position itself in the emerging carbon credit market. Through the Ghana Carbon Market Office hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the country has a national institutional arrangement to support Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, voluntary carbon market activities, mitigation activity development, authorisation, monitoring, reporting, and verification of carbon projects, and registry operations and corresponding adjustments.
This is a significant national opportunity. The benefits of a properly managed carbon market are not lost on us. We have already begun recording thousands of mitigation activities across the energy, agriculture, forestry, and transportation sectors. This demonstrates that Ghana is not starting from zero; the foundation exists. Mr Speaker, the carbon credit market must not be treated merely as a trading platform for emissions reduction.
On the contrary, it must be treated as a national development instrument. Ghana’s approach must be guided by one central principle: to deliver real national value; real emission reductions, real community benefits, and real private sector investment. The first direction Government must take is to strengthen policy, clarity, and regulatory certainty.
All stakeholders and participants need to know the rules. The framework already exists with the Carbon Market Office and Ghana Carbon Registry. The next step is to make the rules simpler, faster, and more predictable. Approval process must be transparent, timelines must be clear, fees must be reasonable, and the distinction between Article 6 transactions, the voluntary carbon market projects, and the non-authorised domestic carbon activities must be clearly communicated.
Mr Speaker, Government must protect Ghana’s national interest in every carbon transaction. Carbon credits are not ordinary commodities. They are linked to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), international reporting obligations, community access, land rights, biodiversity, and future development space.
Government must therefore ensure that authorisation of internally transferred mitigation outcomes does not weaken Ghana's ability to meet its own climate commitments. We must not sell cheap today what we may need tomorrow to meet our own NDC targets, and for the avoidance of doubt, NDC is Nationally Determined Contributions.
Mr Speaker, Ghana must also insist on high-integrity carbon credits. The global carbon market has suffered credibility challenges because of weak projects, inflated claims, double counting, poor community consultation and questionable additionality.
Ghana must not become a destination for lowquality carbon projects. Every project must demonstrate environmental integrity and transparent benefits sharing. This reassures the posture of government to put communities at the centre.
Many carbon projects depend on land, forests, farms and community practices. These are not abstract assets, but rather attributes of communities, farmers, households, traditional authorities and private sectors. Carbon projects should therefore proceed with proper stakeholder engagement, free and informed local participation, clear grievance mechanisms and fair benefit sharing.
Ghana must build a strong domestic project pipeline. The Government should now deliberately prioritise high-impact sectors, be it in renewable energy, methane reduction, landfill gas management, regenerative agriculture, forest restoration, mangrove protection, climate-smart irrigation, public transport, industrial energy efficiency and water purification.
These sectors can reduce emissions while solving everyday developmental problems. Our carbon financing should therefore be aligned with Ghana’s jobs agenda, food security agenda, energy transition agenda and local economic development strategy.
Mr Speaker, Government must build national capacity. Carbon market development requires specialised skills, including project design, carbon accounting, Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV), legal contracting, Article 6 authorisation of the Paris Agreement, registry management, financing, restructuring and community benefits sharing, among others.
Ghana should not rely excessively on foreign consultation. The country must train Ghanaian experts, universities, private firms, district assemblies, NonGovernmental Organisations (NGOs) and financial institutions to participate meaningfully in the market. A National Carbon Finance Academy linked to the carbon market office at the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), universities and the private sector should be institutionalised.
Mr Speaker, furthermore, we must strengthen the Ghana carbon registry. It must accurately and timeously track mitigation activities, issuance, transfers, cancellations, retirement authorisation and corresponding adjustments. The Registry should be digital, transparent, secure, regularly updated and linked to Ghana’s national greenhouse gas inventory and the NDC’s accounting system.
The Government must also improve coordination among the various key sectors involved in the carbon market. The current governance architecture involving the Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), the carbon market office, the inter-ministerial committee, the carbon market committee and the technical advisory committee is important. These institutions must be properly resourced and politically supported to carry out their objective in a coordinated manner. Carbon market decisions should not sit in files for months.
Mr Speaker, Ghana must use the carbon market to attract investments. The country should welcome credible investors who bring technology, finance and long-term partnerships while carefully avoiding projects without sustainable financing, capacity or implementation plans. In all these, Ghana must show leadership in Africa. With the right reforms, Ghana can become a trusted regional hub for credible carbon assets. We already have a framework for a number of bilateral cooperation arrangements and a growing project pipeline.
Mr Speaker, in conclusion, though the carbon credit market offers Ghana an opportunity, it also carries risks. If poorly managed, it can create confusion, speculation, unfair contracts and loss of national value. If properly governed, it can position Ghana as a leader in Africa’s green transition. Our national position should therefore be clear that Ghana is open for carbon market investment, but only on terms that protect environmental integrity, national interests, community rights and long term benefits.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the treasured space. I am grateful.
Hon Tweneboa Kodua Fokuo
Manso Nkwanta
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity. I would like to thank the Minority Chief Whip, Hon Annoh-Dompreh, for such an important Statement.
Mr Speaker, Ghana as a country may be sitting on one of the greatest untapped environmental economic opportunities of our generation. The issue of carbon trading, the framework, started way back in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan. That is about 29 years ago and since then, countries have been benefiting and we believe Ghana has the potential to really benefit as well.
Mr Speaker, per the framework, developing countries such as Ghana could conserve land, forests and all vegetation that could absorb greenhouse gases and through that we could earn some carbon credits. Practically, in Ghana, we could have families, we could have stools, we could have other landowners preserving or conserving their lands with other vegetation, wetlands, mangroves, et cetera and earn income out of same.
So, in simple terms, it becomes even more economical to conserve or preserve one’s land with vegetation than to destroy it. As we have it now, it is more economical to destroy than to conserve. But this could be turned around in such a way that it will be much more economical to actually conserve. If we look at the issue of land in Ghana, now, we talk about mining and the issues that are destroying the environment.
Let us think about it for a minute, that if people could conserve their land and earn credits, and these credits are simply money, if they could conserve their lands and earn money out of same, it will surprise us how people will show interest in conserving same to earn credits and by extension, the country will benefit enormously. We have seen places like the Ramsar site at Sakumono; we have seen demolitions going on. This is because the Ramsar site is supposed to be wetlands that house wild bears and among others.
Why are people not conserving these lands? This is because we struggle to find meaning. We struggle to place an economic value on it. But if these frameworks were put into practice, people would not need to struggle to understand this. The Government would not have to demolish these houses because the owners themselves would have protected these pieces of land as they have become of economic value.
Mr Speaker, even the issue of flooding, to some extent, if wetlands are to become of economic value, if these frameworks were working, people who own wetlands would protect them. And the wetlands will become the sequestration point for water anytime there is flooding.
Mr Speaker, this is an important Statement made by the Minority Chief Whip. What we need now is education because, like I said, this education started far back as the year, 1997. But it seems a lot of people are not even aware. So, we need to educate people. The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) need to educate people of the benefits. When people get to know of the benefits, naturally they will work with these principles, and I believe that we as a country will benefit enormously.
I thank the maker of the Statement again, and Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.
Hon Frank Afriyie
Afadjato South
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement ably made by the most respected Minority Chief Whip, Hon Frank Annoh-Dompreh.
Mr Speaker, while at that, I truly need to single out the Hon Member for his continuous and unrelentless effort at coming out with Statements that have enormous impact on the sustenance of our environment. I also think that his attempt to give further meaning to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in this House strikes me so much.
Mr Speaker, on a more serious note, the carbon credit market, which is, of course, a voluntary platform for absolute removal or reduction in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, should be of concern to us all. As a Member of the ruling Government, I want to assure the Hon Member that the Minister for State in charge of Climate Change and Sustainability is up to task. The creation of that Ministry is in sync with issues of carbon credit markets and its effects and consequences on the environment.
Mr Speaker, in simple terms, the EPA established under the Environmental Protection Act, 2025 (Act 1124) created a robust market platform for Ghana in line with article 6 of the Paris Agreement which has to do with voluntary cooperation with emissions.
Mr Speaker, the greenhouse effect, as we can all see, is imminent. Today, most European countries are battling with rise in temperature, from Greece to France. Indeed, just last week in France, the government had to invest in spraying people with water in order to reduce their body temperature.
While Europe suffers this fate as a result of the greenhouse effect, we in Ghana have to battle with flood, after some hours of downpour, which of course is the effect and consequence of the climate change. The issue of flood and its devastating consequences is a common knowledge to us all, which Government is already trying to cater for.
Mr Speaker, but even as we speak about the carbon credit market, I think that the Member has done enormous research and come out with this meticulous Statement. He has indeed proffered some useful point as far as the way forward is concerned. He has asked for the strengthening of the Ghana carbon credit registry, which I think is key. He has also asked for a carbon credit market that will give Ghana the opportunity to attract the needed investment that comes with this package.
Mr Speaker, I thank the maker of the Statement, and I pray that Government takes all the suggestions in good faith. Thank you.
Hon Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah
Takoradi
Mr Speaker, I would like to thank the Hon Minority Chief Whip for such a brilliant Statement and for his efforts at always bringing to the fore the issue of sustainable development.
Mr Speaker, this topic of carbon credits is something that has come up in the last Session. Last year we discussed it and now we are also discussing it again. I believe that is very relevant because we all know that climate change is present. It is not a future event that we should be expecting. It is happening now. If you look at the rains, it clearly shows that as human beings, we need to do something about it, and carbon credit is one key area in solving the problem.
Mr Speaker, we know for a fact that a lot of the industrialised world are the major pollutants of this world. And our ability to absorb the carbon that is generated is key in managing temperatures and the climate effects.
Mr Speaker, I do believe that Ghana also has a unique opportunity to derive much benefit from the carbon credits that we have already initiated in this country. In fact, Ghana seems to have been one of the first countries in Africa to set up an office and to trade carbon credits. Unfortunately, in our part of the world, there is mining in almost all our forest reserves. And over the period, it is becoming more and more difficult to protect these forests.
Mr Speaker, I have said it here before, that it is time that the revenues that we are generating from these carbon credits are physically shared to communities that protect these forest reserves. And in protecting them, we can use these moneys to generate the carbon credits that we are talking about. A
gain, Mr Speaker, there are other areas that we also need to be looking at very seriously. Today, when we take one tonne of gold, it will give us over US$130 million. The same one tonne of carbon credits will give us just US$1,000. So, as a country, we need to ask ourselves: How do we deal with it? How do we make sure that we protect our forests to protect our lives rather than just letting it go?
Mr Speaker, I have said it and I will say it again, that in Ghana, we have a huge opportunity to generate revenues from carbon credits because a lot of people have been doing greenwashing, inflating the carbon potential of their projects and using them to raise money. But I believe that we can start regrowing a lot of degraded lands.
In fact, according to the World Economic Forum, when one invests US$1, one should get between a minimum of US$7 and US$30 from afforestation, which is US$1 is to US$30. So, I believe that, as we speak today, all our degraded lands will become money zones if we apply ourselves in replanting them. I think that it should be easier for us to do so, because if we are only putting in US$1 and we can get US$30, definitely, any project is going to be bankable.
I believe that in looking at the disparities between the gold pricing and the carbon credit pricing with the devastated lands that we have, we now have some money zones that Government can apply itself to reinvest in those areas. We know that the teak trees that were planted by former Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia in those days were the teak trees that were harvested by a lot of the timber firms in former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s time.
Mr Speaker, if we plant for example, acacia now, and we give ourselves from about three to five years, we should be able to generate so much revenue from these degraded lands for the good of this country. I also believe that we also have to make it clear to a lot of Ghanaians—
Hon Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey
Keta
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me this opportunity.
I would like to commend Hon Annoh-Dompreh, the Minority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam/Adoagyiri for his Statement on the carbon credit market. This is another excellent opportunity for Ghana to get it right. This Statement is in the right direction.
Mr Speaker, carbon credit all over the world is an opportunity and an investment from where countries can reap a lot of resources. But we need to invest. Carbon dioxide is a food for the trees and they also give us oxygen. So, it is a two-way affair. As we are talking about carbon credit, we need investment in tree planting; we need to plant trees. The more trees we plant; the more emission of carbon dioxide vis-a-vis the greenhouse gas will actually be traded to give us resources for the country. Countries are going into this. As part of the strategies to actually gain more carbon credit, it is good for us to invest in research also.
Mr Speaker, one of the areas we should be looking at is research. What are the species of trees that can grow faster than the ordinary ones which takes almost five to 10 years to mature? Is there any way we have the hybrid system by the researchers where the trees will grow faster, maybe within two to three years? These trees will actually grow and mature and as much as we are emitting the greenhouse gases, the trees will be absorbing it and giving us oxygen while they use the carbon dioxide. So, it will be in a good direction when we invest in the research system also.
Mr Speaker, as the Minister for Education is right here, we also need to beef up our curriculum. There is a statement that says that, “Catch them young and they will remain yours”. We need to start from the schools by actually inculcating tree planting activities, encourage teachings with regard to tree planting; how schools can also plant trees and earn a lot of resources from carbon credit in terms of investment in schools. Schools can have farms also. It is an area we can look at as a country. We need to give them the right species and the right guidance, and at the end of the day, the investment will be there and the schools can also benefit from that investment.
Mr Speaker, another area we should be looking at is behavioural change. Nowadays people cut trees anyhow. Elsewhere, before you can cut tree, you need permission from Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
In Ghana, we have these laws. Are the laws working? Are the district assemblies actually enforcing the laws when people just get up and then cut trees without planting any or without permits? This is an area we also need to look at. We need to crack the whip because the laws are there. There is a difference between having the law and implementing it. If we are not implementing the law, how will we achieve it? So, we have a lot of opportunities to change our behaviour, because the climate change is affecting all of us and climate change is becoming a global issue now.
Mr Speaker, one of the areas you should be investing in is tree planting because it also controls erosion, wind and others. Tree planting is a valuable area which will serve as a control with regards to that. These are the areas we should be investing in as much as possible so that at the end of the day, emission of these greenhouse gases will not have much effect and impact on Ghana.
Mr Speaker, as I speak, look at our coastal belt. A lot of tidal waves and environmental issues are there. People are doing things which are not good for the country. People are cutting trees and doing anything to our trees. There is a saying that “When you cut the last tree, the last person will die.” So, Mr Speaker, I would like to thank you very much for the opportunity.
In conclusion, I thank the maker of this Statement and this Statement should be referred to the appropriate agencies and authorities so that at the end of the day, we take holistic measures by investing more into the carbon credit.
Hon Patrick Yaw Boamah
Okaikwei Central
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity. Let me commend the maker of the Statement who has been very consistent with his advocacy, knowledge and passion for the environment.
Mr Speaker, I do not think carbon credits will be given out just for the sake of it. We have to be also environmentally compliant. Benin has succeeded in generating a lot of revenue from this and I believe that Ghana must take a cue. I have personally sent some proposals to the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology on how Ghana can take advantage of this.
I was told Dr Raymond Atuguba was one of the consultants, consulting for the EPA and the Ministry in this regard. Carbon credit is a very novel zone or area for Ghana to benefit from cheap facility in terms of raising adequate revenue or resources for the development of this country.
Mr Speaker, I do not have much to say but to thank the maker of the Statement for bringing this to the fore and commending him to always be up to speed with the happenings within the environmental sector and how it is going to help this country. I thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Hon Rockson-Nelson Etse Kwami Dafeamekpor
South Dayi
Mr Speaker, let me thank my Brother for raising this very important matter once more.
Mr Speaker, the essence of the matters that he canvassed before the Floor are very germane, especially in view of the climate changes and the consequences, and global warming and its consequences that we face as a people and as a nation.
Just last weekend, the entire Gulf of Guinea, from Yaoundé to Lagos, Porto-Novo, Cotonou, Lome, Accra, Abidjan, Monrovia, Freetown and Conakry, all these capital cities were inundated with rain. It got flooded. It was interesting that all these nine capital cities experienced heavy rainfall around the same time and for continuous period.
So, the question is as to how our environmental engineering, management and policies became topical matters in their respective countries. As we speak, the World Bank is sponsoring the West African Coastal Management Project in Benin and Lomé. Two years ago, Ghana benefited, but somehow, we could not draw down on the facility. It was reinstated last year.
So we hope that as a country, we will be able to draw down this and manage our coastal belts in a manner that helps us avoid excessive flooding when streams and rivers enter the sea, even during periods of loss.
Mr Speaker, in respect of the carbon credits issue, I recall that last year, when he raised the matter, we were encouraged by the Speaker, and I recall that it was my Leader who concluded his comments on the Statement. He encouraged us that, as Members of Parliament (MPs), we should all go into tree planting and at least develop a woodlot, so that, for instance, in South Dayi or in Akatsi South, there could be a 50-acre woodlot sitting in the name of the Member of Parliament. But it appears that after those comments and those very lofty recommendations were made, as Members of Parliament, for want of a better expression, we went to sleep.
So, his Statement today is another wake-up call, and I want to lead the way by going back to my Constituency this weekend and taking concrete steps to get some land and starting with such a project called a woodlot. We will be able to plant some acreage of green belts.
Mr Speaker, we need it because, if I recall accurately, the Majority Leader indicated that with the carbon credits, they have a way of calculating it, so that as a nation, when it is properly done, we can benefit from it in terms of seeking funding and all that. So, I would urge both Sides of the House that even if it is not all of us at the same time, some of us can start by way of a pilot.
The Hon Member for Kwesimintsim started last year; that is good. We can copy from him and continue it, so that we would, as the various political leaders in our constituencies, lead by example. The urban MPs can be spared, but they can also sponsor green belts in the various urban centres to be able to give some effect to the issues that the Hon Member raised.
So, Mr Speaker, with these words, I want to thank you and also thank my Brother for raising this matter. He also raised it on the floor of the Pan-African Parliament, and that is why, when he was leaving the Committee on Agriculture, it was with a lot of regret, but he is now the Chairperson for—
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