GENEVA, Nov 19, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Some of Switzerland’s carbon dioxide emissions are to be offset through projects in Ghana, the Swiss government announced Wednesday, after concluding a similar deal last month with Peru.
Under the Paris Agreement climate change pact, Switzerland has committed to reduce its 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030.
Bern says it will meet the target mainly through domestic measures, but under the agreement, Switzerland can offset its emissions through projects in other countries, which will then count towards its reduction target.
Switzerland signed a similar deal with Peru on October 20, a move it called “the first agreement of its kind in the world”.
“With this agreement, Switzerland is setting a standard for international climate projects that meet stringent environmental protection requirements, while also respecting international standards for the protection of human rights.
“It also commits both parties to use a method that prevents double counting of emission reductions. The criteria will be monitored continuously for the duration of the climate projects.”
Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga and a Ghanaian government representative were to sign the agreement during a video conference in the coming days.
Glaciers in the Swiss Alps are in steady decline, losing a full two percent of their volume this year alone, according to an annual study published by the Swiss Academies of Science.
Even if the world were to fully implement the 2015 Paris Agreement — which calls for capping global warming at well below two degrees Celsius — two-thirds of the Alpine glaciers will likely be lost, according to a study last year by the ETH technical university in Zurich.
A Swiss government report earlier this month said the country’s financial sector still invests too much in the production of oil and coal despite progress towards more climate-friendly investments.