burden of deforestation, desertification, erosion of ... - Social Watch
burden of deforestation, desertification, erosion of ... - Social Watch burden of deforestation, desertification, erosion of ... - Social Watch
A study by Diakonie, the Protestant Church welfare organization, calculates that a 10-30% increase in welfare benefits is needed in order to comply with the Court’s ruling. 15 Instead, a decision was taken in February 2011 to increase benefits by around 1.5%, with a further increase of less than 1% planned for 2012. 16 At the same time, the gap between rich and poor has widened. A 2010 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report 17 states: “the distribution of gross wages widened significantly after 1995” and “the share of jobless households has increased […] to 19%, the highest level across the OECD area.” It adds that social transfers “are less targeted to lower income groups than in other countries.” Sustainability in practice: development policy According to figures published by the OECD in early April 2011, German Official Development Assistance (ODA) increased slightly in 2010 – but not enough to bring it into line with the European Union’s timetable to raise ODA to 0.56% of gross national income (GNI). In 2010, the country spent 0.38% of GNI on development assistance – and has therefore stalled at the 2008 level. What’s more, in 2009 it actually decreased to 0.35%. In absolute terms, the country has fallen from second (2008) to fourth place in the international ranking of donor countries and is trailing behind the United States, France and the United Kingdom, while its ODA spending of just 0.38% of GNI ranks it 13 th out of 23 Western donor countries. 18 15 Ibid., p. 3. 16 See Federal Government, Bildungspaket für Kinder, (2011), . 17 OECD, Growing Unequal?, (2008),
Climate change policies and citizen’s rights NETRIGHT ghana Like other African states, Ghana is already experiencing the impact of climate change: hotter weather, reduced or increased seasonal rainfall, changes in rainfall patterns, flooding, sea surges, tidal waves and a rise in sea-level causing inundation and coastal erosion. The result is a reduction in food security, increased transmission of vector and water-borne diseases, significant economic losses through weather crises and the displacement of the population. However, since the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Conference on Sustainable Development, after which Ghana adopted the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol, the Government has engaged with the issue of climate change at all levels, from global to local. Institutional and policy initiatives Having ratified all the Rio Conventions on the environment--the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Ghana established several national institutions as policy focal points, including the Ministry of Environment Science and Technology (MEST), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ghana Environment and Climate Change Authority (GECCA). However, the uncritical stance of these institutions towards the UNFCCC and KP decisions is problematic. Ghana was among the first 23 countries in Africa that associated itself with the Copenhagen Accord in 2009 in spite of the fact that African countries had developed a collective position at Copenhagen against the Accord. The Government took that position ostensibly to access the various funding windows available for adaptation and mitigation measures on climate change. Nonetheless, since then, Ghana has developed a National Adaptation Strategy, set up a National Climate Change Committee and developed a discussion paper on a National Climate Change Policy Framework (NCCPF). In its National Communication Assessments (NCA), the Government’s Environmental Protection Agency has provided useful information about the effect of various climate change scenarios on different economic sectors and the implications for Addressing climate change is critical for sustainable development in the country. At the national level, efforts have been made to comply with the decisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), but bilateral and multilateral funding opportunities affect the extent to which the real concerns of citizens are addressed. Donor consultations on adaptation and mitigation of climate change are constrained by a neo-liberal economic framework that limits the space for a citizen-led process. Civil society organizations must intensify efforts to ensure that efforts to address climate change promote social justice, human security, gender equality, and sustainable development. Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) BCI = 77 Births attended 100 GEI = 62 100 61 Children reaching 5th grade 0 59 100 100 93 National reports 116 Social Watch Surviving under-5 people’s livelihoods. The analysis, however, of the implications for women is premised on women’s vulnerability rather than women’s human rights or human development. 1 The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its assessment of countries developing National Adaptation Plans of Action (NAPAs) has said: “In general NAPAs portray women as victims without the skills that would allow them to become involved in negotiations of strategic planning. Most of these plans do not even recognize that women with the knowledge they have can make a contribution to adaptation processes and that they should be a focal group for adaptation programmes”. 2 The NCCPF discussion paper is another concern. Its three objectives – promoting low carbon growth; effective adaptation to climate change; and social development – seem laudable, but their articulation and the policy implications leave much to be desired. Similar to earlier proposals, the NCCPF is located in a framework of market-oriented options, such as carbon-trading schemes including Reducing Emis- 1 I. Dankelman, “Climate Change: Learning from Gender Analysis and Women’s Experiences of Organising for Sustainable Development”, in Gender & Development, Vol. 10 (2002):21-29; Dankelman, et al., ”Gender, Climate Change and Human Security Lessons from Bangladesh, Ghana and Senegal,” prepared by the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) with ABANTU for Development in Ghana, ActionAid Bangladesh and ENDA in Senegal, (2008), . 2 UNDP, Resource Guide on Gender and Climate, (New York: 2009). Gender Equity Index (GEI) Education 19 0 Empowerment 100 79 100 Economic activity sions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). It focuses on financial schemes available to developing countries that demonstrate compliance with laid down market-driven criteria on adaptation and mitigation. Civil society engagement Whereas the NCCPF has been based on broad consultation with a range of actors in Ghana including civil society groups such as Friends of the Earth and ABANTU for Development, the issues of concern to these groups have not been sufficiently articulated in the discussion paper. A case in point is the gender issue which is discussed under the ‘social development’ objective of the NCCPF. While the document acknowledges the contribution of women and the need to address the risks they could face as a result of climate change, the policy prescription merely refers to the need for “measures such as social protection to smooth out inequities.” 3 Climate change Data from 1960 to 2000 indicates a progressive rise in temperature and a decrease in mean annual rainfall in all agro-ecological zones. 4 Estimates show that temperature will continue to rise on average “about 0.6 degrees C., 2.0 degrees C. and 3.9 degrees C. by the year 2020, 2050 and 2080 3 Ministry of Energy Science and Technology (MEST), Ghana Goes for Green Growth: National Engagement on Climate Change, (Accra: 2010), p. 13. 4 Modern Ghana, Climate Change Ghana’s Threat to Coca Production, (22 August 2008), . 88
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A study by Diakonie, the Protestant Church welfare<br />
organization, calculates that a 10-30% increase in<br />
welfare benefits is needed in order to comply with the<br />
Court’s ruling. 15 Instead, a decision was taken in February<br />
2011 to increase benefits by around 1.5%, with<br />
a further increase <strong>of</strong> less than 1% planned for 2012. 16<br />
At the same time, the gap between rich and<br />
poor has widened. A 2010 Organization for Economic<br />
Co-operation and Development (OECD)<br />
report 17 states: “the distribution <strong>of</strong> gross wages<br />
widened significantly after 1995” and “the share <strong>of</strong><br />
jobless households has increased […] to 19%, the<br />
highest level across the OECD area.” It adds that<br />
social transfers “are less targeted to lower income<br />
groups than in other countries.”<br />
Sustainability in practice: development policy<br />
According to figures published by the OECD in<br />
early April 2011, German Official Development Assistance<br />
(ODA) increased slightly in 2010 – but<br />
not enough to bring it into line with the European<br />
Union’s timetable to raise ODA to 0.56% <strong>of</strong> gross<br />
national income (GNI). In 2010, the country spent<br />
0.38% <strong>of</strong> GNI on development assistance – and has<br />
therefore stalled at the 2008 level. What’s more, in<br />
2009 it actually decreased to 0.35%. In absolute<br />
terms, the country has fallen from second (2008)<br />
to fourth place in the international ranking <strong>of</strong> donor<br />
countries and is trailing behind the United States,<br />
France and the United Kingdom, while its ODA<br />
spending <strong>of</strong> just 0.38% <strong>of</strong> GNI ranks it 13 th out <strong>of</strong> 23<br />
Western donor countries. 18<br />
15 Ibid., p. 3.<br />
16 See Federal Government, Bildungspaket für Kinder, (2011),<br />
.<br />
17 OECD, Growing Unequal?, (2008),
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