International Regimes and Domestic Policies: The Implementation of Climate Change Management Policy in Ghana.

Abstract

Climate change has turned out to be one of the most destructing problems facing the world today that needs to be addressed. The causes and impacts are not limited to one part of the world or the other but are differentiated in light of the financial structure of a country as well as the ability to adapt. Ghana like many African countries had and continues to experience its fair share of the impacts of climate change manifested in extreme temperatures and unpredictable rainfall patterns. Therefore, Ghana joined the comity of nations to initiate efforts to collectively deal with it on a global scale through the United Nations Convention Framework on Climate Change. The success of the Convention to combat climate change in Ghana will be determined by how far the country has domesticated it. Using a qualitative approach, the study assessed how far Ghana has domesticated the framework Convention on climate change, the challenges and opportunities as well as recommendations for successful implementation. The results show that to a large extent, Ghana has domesticated the UNFCCC. This is evidenced by the ratification of the Convention, developing the National Climate Change Policy and Nationally Determined Contributions, mainstreaming the policies into national and district planning, setting up institutions to coordinate the activities of actors and reporting back to the UNFCCC. The main challenge that runs through all the institutions interviewed was inadequate financing for the projects they undertake. With enough funding and technical expertise, the country will go a long way to achieving low emission and a climate resilient society.