Climate of Ghana

Climate change in Ghana is having significant impacts on the people of Ghana. Increasing temperatures and changes in rainfall, extreme weather, drought, wild fires, floods and sea-level rise^[6] are expected to negatively affect the country's infrastructure, hydropower production, food security, and coastal and agricultural livelihoods such as farming and fisheries.^[7][8][9] Ghana's economy will be impacted by climate change, due to its dependence on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, energy, and forestry.

Climate change is expected worsen Ghana's water security problems, and this will have socioeconomic consequences.^[10] Agriculture and access to safe and reliable drinking water will be impacted. Reduced water supply will have a negative impact on hydropower, which provides 54% of the country's electricity capacity. Additionally, Ghana will likely see a rise in diseases like malaria, dengue fever and cholera due to changes in water conditions.^[11]

Climate change is expected to have different impacts across the country. The north of the country, which has a typically hot and dry climate, will become hotter and wetter, and increasing rainfall variability is expected to decrease crop yields, which could drive poverty and migration. The wetter south is predicted to experience a decrease in rainfall.^[12]

Ghana signed the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016. Their existing 2015 Intended Nationally Determined Contribution^[13] then became their Nationally Determined Contribution, which was reviewed in 2021.^[14] Ghana aims to avoid 64 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to a business-as-usual scenario for 2020-2030. The country has committed to net zero by 2060.^[15]