Ghana has adopted a legal framework to participate in carbon market projects, a move officials say will unlock billions in investment and position the West African nation as a key player in global climate finance.

Mohammed Gyimah, Deputy Director of the Climate Change Unit at the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), said the framework was incorporated into the new Environmental Protection Agency Act, 2025 (Act 1124), passed earlier this year.

“This marks significant progress for Ghana in advancing carbon markets,” Gyimah told delegates at the Korea-Africa Environmental Cooperation Forum in Seoul.

Ghana has already signed bilateral agreements with Singapore, Switzerland and Sweden, and is close to finalising another with South Korea. “We expect that there will soon be a specific timeline which will be submitted to the government for approval,” Gyimah said in a Daily Graphic report.

So far, about 68 projects worth an estimated $850mn to $1.5bn have been onboarded under the scheme. A large share of the funding is expected to support adaptation initiatives.

The Adaptation Fund Board is also running a project in Ghana where, Gyimah explained, “we are looking at carbon-based associated adaptation action. For us, we see carbon markets, initiated by AFB, as a positive tool that can propel the African idea of not seeing education as the opposite of adaptation, and how to build those resources.”

The panel discussion in Seoul, themed “Harnessing carbon markets for climate resilience in Africa,” brought together senior officials from Uganda, Korea and six other African countries.

Uganda’s Assistant Commissioner at the Climate Change Department, Muhammed Semambo, said agriculture remained the priority for adaptation on the continent. “Uganda also sees that we possess the greatest potential of carbon substitution mechanisms,” he said, stressing that while resources were limited, Uganda could make a meaningful contribution to cutting emissions.

Mino Kim, Director at South Korea’s Ministry of Environment, said her country faced climate threats ranging from extreme rainfall to wildfires. She outlined Seoul’s strategy of strengthening early warning systems, upgrading infrastructure and pushing ahead with energy transition.

“Fundamentally, the Korean government will promote decarbonisation in the power generation sector early, converting a renewable energy-oriented energy mix, and strengthen the functions of the emission market to support companies to reduce greenhouse gases,” Kim said.

The forum, organised by the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute, drew officials from Senegal, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Egypt and Tanzania, alongside Ghanaian and Korean government representatives.