The World Bank has supported Ghana with over $4.8m for reducing deforestation and forest degradation emissions,Ghana’s Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. Samuel Abu Jinapor, told the Daily Graphic in Accra on Wednesday that the money was paid last Tuesday.

According to the report, the World Bank Trust Fund paid the money as a reward for the effort of Ghana in reducing 972,456 tonnes of carbon emissions under the first monitoring period of the programme, which runs from June to December 2019.

The report added that Ghana has become the second African country after Mozambique to receive the money from the global fund.

According to the report, the payment is under the multilateral lender’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), a global partnership of governments, businesses, civil society and indigenous peoples’ organisations focused on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

“It is also focused on forest carbon stock conservation, sustainable management of forests, and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries,” the report said.

The minister disclosed that independent validation and verification processes were also ongoing for the payment of the second tranche, covering the monitoring period January 2020 to December, 2021.

He minister also said that 69 per cent of the money would be allocated to local communities since they represented the key actors in generating emission reductions, while the remaining 31 per cent would be shared among related stakeholders.