Ghana offsets emissions from the Swiss federal government

With the Paris climate agreement, Switzerland has committed to halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from 1990 levels. In order to reduce federal government emissions, the Federal Council adopted the “Federal Administration Climate Package” in 2019 .

Under this, the government must reduce its domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 compared to 2006, and the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sports (DDPS) by at least 40 percent compared to 2001.

The remaining emissions must be offset from 2021 to 2030 with climate protection projects abroad. According to the federal government, the world’s first foreign climate protection project under the standards of the Paris climate accord was approved on Saturday.

Climate-friendly rice cultivation in Ghana

As the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) wrote in a statement on Saturday, the project will promote climate-friendly methods of rice cultivation in Ghana. This reduces emissions of the climate-damaging greenhouse gas methane.

The program aims to produce more than one million tons of CO by 2030₂– Equivalents are saved. According to the announcement, Ghana will continue to benefit from the project beyond 2030. This is because it enhances the supply of food that has less impact on the climate. The implementation is carried out by the United Nations Development Programme.

Compensation Guidelines

The Paris Agreement also obliges both countries to use a method that avoids double counting of emission reductions. These quality requirements also apply to voluntary climate compensation from the federal government.

To offset greenhouse gas emissions abroad, Switzerland has already signed bilateral climate protection agreements with several countries – in addition to Ghana, also with Morocco, Malawi, Uruguay and Thailand.

According to the Bafu, all of these agreements provide the framework for projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that reduced emissions are not counted twice.

Agreement already signed in 2017

When asked, FOEN explains that it will take seven years after the Paris conference before the first specific project is implemented: Switzerland ratified the Paris Convention in 2017. The international rules for climate protection projects abroad are still subject to ongoing negotiations.

Implementing rules are to be further negotiated at the latest COP27 climate conference in Egypt. With the Climate Protection Agreement, Switzerland has taken the bilateral path to quickly provide private funds for climate protection projects and to set high standards for the market mechanism. (SDA)