"Showcasing the Power of Article 6 in Ghana" was the official title of the event, which brought together committed activity developers and owners with interested investors and representatives of official authorities from Ghana and Switzerland. The displays of the mitigation activities, some of which are close to implementation, was intended to draw the attention of both the climate community and the general public to the benefits of the Article 6.2 mechanism and its impact in mitigating carbon emissions as well as complimenting Ghana’s sustainable development goals.

The event facilitated networking exchanges and the collection of ideas to raise ambition for more climate action through partnership. Participants saw first-hand how projects and the promoted technologies are affecting the lives of average Ghanaians. For example, they learned about new types of electric cook stoves that will be offered at affordable prices, about palm oil plants that are being modernised to enable more climate-friendly production, about electric bicycles and buses, about solar panels on rooftops and about the possibility of producing energy from biomass.

Ghana boasts a particularly large number of highly developed activities amongst Switzerland’s partner countries. Some of the activities are about to be implemented, others are currently in the validation stage. What they all have in common is the strong commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions on a large scale. The activities presented will become financially viable thanks to funding from the KliK Foundation.

The event also provided insights into the benefits beyond the activities’ climate impact. Here, presentations by Daniel Lamptey, Senior Programmes Officer, EPA, and Yannick Träris-Kahriman, Director Procurement KliK Foundation, shed more light on these benefits. The forward-looking nature of the technologies used was particularly impressive. The mitigation activities create attractive jobs for many young people who are responsible for the development and implementation of the various activities.

At the same time, the event made clear how important digitisation is in the implementation, especially for Article 6.2 activities. Most of KliK’s funded activities implement what is known as "digital MRV" (Measurement, Reporting und Verification). A process which measures and collects data digitally to increase the robustness of the monitoring of emission reductions.

The event definitely achieved its goal – showcasing and beyond that creating and fostering a community. In addition to the activity owners, media representatives and representatives of the Ghanaian Parliament, the Select Committee for Environment, Science and Technology, and the Swiss Ambassador, Simone Giger, were present. Switzerland’s bilateral climate cooperation with Ghana is a good example of what can be achieved through joint climate action under Article 6.2.

Ghana is a pioneer that has created stable political framework conditions and security for investors thanks to a national framework for climate protection. The afternoon of 17 October in Accra clearly showed what this means in concrete terms.