Abstract:
The devastating effects of climate change and variability globally are
incontestable, hence, the urgency for upscaling adaptation and
mitigation strategies. Central to initiating and implementing robust
adaptation and mitigation measures is innovative financing. While
there are various climate change support projects in Ghana, much is
still needed to fund adaptation and mitigation measures. Similarly,
social protection intervention programmes abound in the country,
many of which are aimed at reducing poverty and spatial development
inequalities in targeted areas. Arguably, opportunities are embedded
in many of these social protection programmes to bolster climate
change adaptation and mitigation issues in the country. Using the
Labour Intensive Public Works (LlPW) of the Ghana Social
Opportunities Project (GSOP) as a case study, the paper examines how
social protection interventions in Ghana could support both climate
change adaptation and mitigation measures. Analysing the panel data
from two rounds of survey on the LIPW, the results show that, paid
employment among beneficiary communities increased by 9.4%
relative to the non-beneficiary households. Furthermore, it was found
that extreme poverty and average poverty reduced by 7% and 21%
respectively in the LlPW beneficiary communities. Thus, the adaptive
capacity to climate change of LIPW beneficiaries became stronger
than non-beneficiaries. The analyses also reveal that the trees plantation
activities of LlPW will strengthen the mitigation of climate change
in the long-term through an increase in the country's carbon sinks.
This interplay between social protection interventions and climate
change objectives drums home the need to mainstream climate
change objectives into all social protection interventions in Ghana