Ghana is set to issue its inaugural transfer of Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs)—carbon credits representing verified emission reductions. Expected in late 2024 or early 2025, the issuance marks a milestone under Ghana’s climate strategy and the 2020 cooperative carbon credit agreement with Switzerland.
Speaking at a recent event in Accra, organized by the Klik Foundation and Ghana’s Carbon Market Office, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Ophelia Mensah Hayford, outlined that the first ITMOs will come from a project distributing 180,000 improved charcoal cookstoves. Subsidized by carbon funds, these cookstoves will benefit rural and peri-urban smallholder farmers, aiming to cut household emissions by 80% and cooking fuel costs by 60%.
Hayford highlighted additional benefits beyond emissions, such as green job creation, tech transfer, and private sector incentives toward Ghana’s national contributions. Ghana’s carbon market initiatives, spanning sustainable cooking, electric mobility, and waste-to-compost projects, have already attracted $850 million in investments.
Switzerland’s Ambassador to Ghana, Simone Giger, praised Ghana’s leadership in carbon offsetting, noting Ghana’s robust pipeline of projects under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The collaboration has secured Ghana’s reputation as a carbon market pioneer, drawing significant international attention.
The Klik Foundation’s Director of Carbon Procurement, Yannick Träris-Kahriman, expressed enthusiasm for Ghana’s progress, crediting strong political commitment from both Swiss and Ghanaian partners as key to accelerating the development of climate projects.
