Search Climate Insights Directory

The report provides a guide for city practitioners to build climate resilience in African cities, specifically focusing on the challenges of informality and inequality. It proposes an eight-step process for climate compatible development that integrates climate dynamics with socioeconomic and political dimensions, ranging from developing a vision and mapping linkages to the informal sector to assessing vulnerabilities and tracking progress.

The document details a project led by the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS) at the University of Ghana to build coastal resilience through community-based reciprocal learning and the CRiSTAL tool. It highlights the critical need to integrate local knowledge into national policy, as Ghana's existing top-down planning lacks local ownership and specific district-level implementation plans. Key achievements include the creation of district-level contingency plans and a community-based climate change adaptation fund in Totope. The study argues that long-term resilience requires decentralization, multi-stakeholder engagement, and the empowerment of vulnerable populations to lead their own survival strategies rather than relying on disaster relief.

The research paper outlines a strategy for 'climate compatible development' in African cities, which integrates climate change adaptation and mitigation with urban development. It emphasizes the need to work with informality and inequality, as a large portion of African urban growth occurs in slums. The authors propose a vision for 'adaptive African cities' and provide a practical eight-step model for community-based development, ranging from visioning and vulnerability mapping to the prioritisation of adaptation options and the tracking of outcomes.

The report examines the 'land question' in Ghana, identifying a weak institutional base and the political manipulation of land as primary drivers of insecurity. It details how these issues lead to violent disputes, the rise of 'land guards', and economic instability. The document also addresses the impact of large-scale land grabbing by foreign corporations and the systemic marginalization of women and the poor in land access. It concludes that these problems are mirrored across other ECOWAS member states and calls for regional policy leadership and greater accountability for traditional chiefs.

The project utilized community-based participatory methods and the CRiSTAL tool to identify climate vulnerabilities in six Ghanaian communities, linking local findings to national policy discussions in Accra to improve coastal urban development and disaster management.

The document translates the global scientific findings of the IPCC SREX report into a regional context for Africa, emphasizing that disaster risk is increasing due to both climate change and socio-economic factors. It argues for an integrated approach that combines disaster risk management (DRM) with climate change adaptation (CCA) and sustainable development. Key regional findings include projected increases in heatwaves and droughts in Southern Africa and increased heavy precipitation in Eastern Africa. The report highlights the extreme vulnerability of coastal cities and the agricultural sector, while advocating for national legislative frameworks, early warning systems, and international financial mechanisms to build long-term resilience.

The document examines the risks and opportunities associated with Ghana's transition to an oil-producing nation. While Ghana has a strong record of democratic transitions and a vocal civil society, it faces challenges including a lack of absorptive capacity for sudden revenue increases, delays in passing oil revenue management legislation, and a history of local communities receiving few benefits from the mining and timber sectors. The author argues that oil alone will not drive structural economic change and recommends the establishment of stabilisation and heritage funds, the use of associated gas to fuel industrial policy and agriculture, and increased transparency in contract negotiations to prevent elite capture and social unrest.

The report identifies that while Ghana has a target of 10% renewable energy in its energy mix by 2020, progress is hindered by implementation and roll-out barriers, including weak domestic technical capacity, inadequate regulatory frameworks, and limited access to long-term finance. It suggests a combination of market-mandated policies, the use of the Clean Development Mechanism, and the establishment of innovation centres to accelerate technology adoption. The study estimates that removing these barriers with international support could avoid at least 14 million tonnes of CO2 emissions from renewable energy projects and 70,000 tonnes from energy efficiency activities.

The workshop, organized by UNICEF and the Institute for Security Studies, featured presentations on youth involvement in violence, the legal and technical aspects of small arms, and the effects of war on children. The event aimed to support the development of a UNICEF strategy for Africa to address the impact of small arms and light weapons on children.

The report examines the intersection of poverty, environmental degradation, and health in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA). It identifies critical deficiencies in water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, and air quality, linking these to high prevalences of childhood diarrhoea and respiratory infections. The study highlights that while the wealthy have better access to amenities, the poor face severe risks from shared facilities, water vendors, and biomass cooking fuels. It concludes that integrated environmental strategies and poverty alleviation are essential for improving public health in the region.

SolarTaxi is a Ghanaian electric vehicle manufacturer founded in 2018 that designs, assembles, and leases low-cost solar-powered two-wheel and four-wheel vehicles. By utilizing an assembly plant in Accra with a mix of imported and local components, the company has achieved a 40% cost reduction, making its vehicles price-competitive with used foreign imports. The business has created over 100 full-time jobs and maintains a workforce where 70% are engineers, 90% of whom are women. SolarTaxi provides training through a driver academy and has secured contracts to supply solar electric buses to Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire. Its vehicles are currently used for deliveries by companies such as Jumia and Bolt in Accra.

The document examines the requirements for building onshore financial centres in Africa capable of competing with established conduits like Mauritius. It identifies Mauritius and Johannesburg as the most compelling current jurisdictions, while noting the ambitions of Rwanda and Kenya. It also highlights the potential role of donors in providing technical assistance to ensure international best practice in regulatory structures.

The document defines Local Economic Development (LED) as a participatory, bottom-up process aimed at improving economic conditions for a locality. It argues that while Ghana has a decentralization agenda and a National LED Policy (2013), implementation is hindered by low awareness, inadequate technical guidance, and a lack of dedicated funding. The report suggests that MMDAs must shift from top-down approaches to collaborative partnerships with the private sector, leveraging human capital, ICT, and territory branding to reduce poverty and unemployment.

The document examines the rapid rate of urbanisation across Africa, highlighting that while urban growth can drive economic diversification, unplanned growth in developing economies often leads to slums and infrastructure stress. It focuses on Nigeria, where rapid urban population growth has outpaced planning, resulting in high slum residency and significant shortages in housing, water, and sanitation. The briefing notes that Nigeria's inability to manage this growth and integrate its large informal economy limits national economic contributions and increases the risk of political and social instability.

The document outlines predictable trends and critical unknowns for the Southern African region, noting a decline in solar energy costs and increasing climate vulnerability, while questioning the pace of EV adoption, infrastructure availability, and the role of South Africa's auto-manufacturing protections.

Ghana faces significant cooling deficits across agriculture, healthcare, and urban environments. In the food sector, 3.2 million tons of food are lost annually, while the healthcare cold chain is hampered by unreliable electricity and a lack of refrigerated transport. Urban areas, particularly Accra, suffer from the urban heat island effect, with 85% of air conditioners being of the lowest energy efficiency category, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations and women.

The report identifies significant cooling access gaps in Ghana, with 12.9 million people at high risk due to poverty and lack of electricity. It argues for a transition to sustainable cooling by integrating passive design, higher energy efficiency standards, and the phase-out of HFC refrigerants. Key focus areas include developing cold chains for agriculture and healthcare to reduce food loss and improve vaccine distribution, while addressing the urban heat island effect in cities like Accra and Kumasi.

The policy brief outlines a framework for Ghana to achieve sustainable cooling through the integration of cooling needs into national energy and climate plans, the establishment of a National Cooling Plan Committee, and the adoption of passive cooling and energy efficiency standards. It emphasizes the need for 'Cool Cities' initiatives in urban centers like Accra and Kumasi, the modernization of cold chains for agriculture and healthcare via renewable energy, and the use of innovative financing like green bonds to attract private investment.

Ghana is utilizing the SNAP initiative to develop a national plan for mitigating short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), integrating these efforts into its National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda. The Ghana EPA is employing the LEAP-IBC model to calculate emissions and benefits across both energy and non-energy sectors. Key sectoral actions include the potential implementation of Euro-benchmarked emission standards for transport, the distribution of 200,000 solar lanterns to replace kerosene, and a Green Cooling Programme to replace high-GWP HFC air conditioners. To support these goals, the Ministry of Finance has established a climate change unit as the National Designated Authority for the Green Climate Fund.

The report investigates the intersection of poverty and environmental degradation in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), Ghana. It finds that low-income households suffer from severe deficiencies in water access, sanitation, and waste management, which correlate strongly with high prevalences of childhood diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections. The study highlights that while the city has some advanced infrastructure, extreme crowding and unreliable supply systems negate these advantages for the poor. It concludes that an integrated environmental-health strategy, leveraging both government action and local community organisations, is necessary to improve urban welfare.