Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

UAE pledges $30m for Ghana’s biodiversity push

By Neil Halligan
Farmers harvesting cocoa in Amankwaatia village, Ghana. The cocoa industry employs 17% of Ghana's workforce Alamy via Reuters
Farmers harvesting cocoa in Amankwaatia village, Ghana. The cocoa industry employs 17% of Ghana's workforce
  • Agreement covers six areas
  • Reforestation and sustainable farming
  • Ghana suffering under climate change

The UAE and Ghana have signed a $30 million partnership for nature-based community development and climate initiatives.

The agreement covers six areas of investment, including biodiversity corridors, which allow animals to travel from one patch of native forest to another, reforestation and agroecology – sustainable farming that works with nature.

The partnership aims to deliver climate and community benefits. It was signed by Amna Al Shamsi, minister of climate change and the environment and Samuel Jinapor, Ghana’s minister of lands and natural resources. 

“Our investment in Ghana will not only bolster the country’s afforestation efforts but will also create a broader positive impact on local communities,” said Al Shamsi.  

Jinapor said although Ghana is receiving carbon payments, there are “critical implementation gaps that need to be filled with other financial instruments to generate more emission reductions”. 

Ghana, like other nations in west Africa, is suffering the effects of climate change, such as rising temperatures, severe rain and extreme droughts.

Deforestation, together with agriculture and other land use changes, is responsible for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, the UN has said.

Around one-third of Ghana is covered by forest, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. 

Ghana is the world’s second-largest cocoa producer. The country’s cocoa farms are a major cause of deforestation, with large areas of trees often cleared to make way for new plantations. 

In recent weeks, however, Ghana began piloting a system that traces cocoa beans from farm to port ahead of a new EU law being introduced in December that bans the import of commodities linked to deforestation, Reuters reported. 

The law requires EU importers of coffee, cocoa, soy, palm, timber, beef and rubber to prove their supply chains are not contributing to deforestation anywhere in the world or be fined up to 4 percent of their turnover.

Reuters said around 60 percent of Ghana’s cocoa is exported to the EU. The industry employs about 17 percent of the country’s working population.

Latest articles

Gulf airlines, Gulf airlines conflict, Gulf conflict risk, Gulf flights cancelled rerouted

Conflict risk leads Gulf airlines to cancel regional routes

Gulf airlines are among airlines that have cancelled and rerouted flights across the Middle East as the conflict between Iran and Israel escalates. They are avoiding Iranian airspace and many have cancelled routes entirely following a major missile attack by Iran against Israel on Tuesday. Immediately after the attacks about 80 flights operated by carriers […]

Taaleem's schools offer 'exclusive educational experiences' including access to high-tech equipment profits

Dubai school operator Taaleem increases profit by 55%

Dubai school operator Taaleem has reported revenue of AED945.2 million ($257.3 million) for its 2023-24 financial year – a 15.5 percent year-on-year increase. More student enrolments and the opening of new schools helped Taaleem to increase net profit before tax by 55 percent, to AED182 million, in the financial year ending August. Taaleem’s shares were […]

Shein IPO

Mubadala-backed Shein courts investors before London IPO

Chinese fashion retailer Shein, which is backed by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, is courting European investors before an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange. Shein is due to hold informal meetings to answer questions and test the investment appetite of major investors in the coming weeks, before its planned IPO […]

Workers stand on a scaffold in Dubai. Building a high rise in the UAE can be as much as two thirds cheaper than in other major cities

Apartments in UAE among cheapest to build in the world

Building a standard residential high-rise in Dubai or Abu Dhabi is up to two-thirds cheaper than in other major global cities, thanks to land, labour and raw materials all costing much less. Land is up to three times cheaper in the UAE compared with the prices paid in New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore […]