As the impacts of climate change continue to transform the environment and people’s livelihoods across the globe, vulnerable regions with fewer adaptive capacities—like Sub-Saharan Africa—are the most affected. In these countries, climate change threatens communities, properties, and livelihoods while also causing a range of non-economic or indirect impacts, such as forcing people to migrate. 

This is one of the complex challenges that countries are deliberating on at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) level. This article will explore how country-specific evidence can strengthen global policy frameworks and contribute to the UNFCCC process.

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‍Global policy frameworks for loss and damage

There are several mechanisms established under the UNFCCC to address loss and damage (L&D) caused by climate change, each playing a key role in shaping the global climate response. 

The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage Associated with Climate Change Impacts (WIM): The WIM was established at COP19 to address L&D related to climate impacts, particularly in developing countries. It focuses on enhancing understanding, coordination, and support for action on different aspects of L&D, such as slow-onset events, non-economic losses, and human mobility. Ghana’s experiences with climate-related migration and displacement align with the WIM’s mandate, particularly when it comes to understanding how non-economic losses such as cultural and societal displacement impact communities.

Santiago Network (SNLD): At COP25, the SNLD was established to catalyze support for vulnerable nations by connecting them with organizations, institutions, and expertise to provide technical assistance to countries experiencing L&D. The Santiago Network seeks to bridge the gap between national needs and international support, making available tools and resources to vulnerable countries like Ghana to cope with migration linked to climate disasters. Hosted by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the SNLD is currently being fully operationalized to serve its function.

Fund for responding to Loss and Damage Fund (LDF): Officially launched at COP27 in Egypt, the much-anticipated L&D Fund has been designed to provide financial support to nations facing irreversible losses caused by climate change. This fund presents an opportunity for affected countries to receive much-needed financial support to build resilience in their affected communities and rebuild the lives of the affected people. For countries to receive this support, strong evidence of their needs will be important, which highlights the role of country-specific data from Ghana in mobilizing international resources.

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The role of country-level evidence for supporting global policy

Localized evidence, which is the key factor in making strong, country-specific, arguments, is crucial when it comes to the global policy framework. To understand the real-world scenarios on the irreversible impact of climate change causing human mobility, national case studies like those from Ghana provide a concrete example. Data from these case studies helps to strengthen the discussion of these issues and provide strategic outcomes for managing them.
For instance, evidence of displacement due to coastal erosion or flooding from case studies in Ghana can inform the global discussions on economic and non-economic losses and internal migration. Real-life implications of climate impacts on human mobility will be shared through this study and turn to provide valuable lessons and recommendations for other vulnerable countries suffering from similar challenges.

Additionally, the global mechanisms on L&D can use experiences and lessons learned from countries such as Ghana to inform the work that they do. For example, data on how affected communities in coastal areas or the savannah zones are adapting to coastal erosion or dry spells as well as managing internal migration can serve as baseline data to develop strategies of addressing human mobility in other regions. Not only do these case studies provide evidence for the mechanisms to work with, they also exemplify a bottom-up approach that can help in drafting policy interventions.

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Policy interventions and recommendations 

At the national level, Ghana needs to build capacity and strengthen its data collection mechanisms on L&D and human mobility. This can be achieved through building more robust systems for tracking climate impacts, internal migration flows associated with climate change, and the economic and social cost associated with these issues. Cross-sectoral engagement among national agencies, research institutions, and civil society organizations can enhance the documentation of Ghana’s experiences and be shared at global policy platforms.

Regional frameworks such as the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) or the African Union (AU) as well as international organizations and networks have worked on several initiatives on migration issues in the region. However, there is room for improvement, especially on data management and climate-induced internal human mobility. Ghana, in collaboration with neighboring countries, can play a key role in mobilizing regional evidence in the form of case studies to inform global policy, which will help in providing a coherent response to climate-induced migration in West Africa. 

On the international front, scaling up support for countries through the three mechanisms on L&D under the UNFCCC will help vulnerable countries like Ghana. This support will help the WIM, SNLD, and the LDF to effectively execute their mandates. The necessary resources and expertise to build resilience in affected communities will be provided. Inclusive decision-making should be prioritized at the global level to ensure that the voice of the affected communities is heard, and tailored solutions are provided.

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Conclusions

The interconnection between climate-induced L&D and human mobility in Ghana shed light on the crucial need for strong evidence to support global policy interventions. By using Ghana’s case studies and contributing to global discussion on L&D, Ghana can influence the direction of key policy frameworks on the WIM, SNLD, and LDF under the UNFCCC.

A strong collaboration among national, regional, and global policy frameworks on climate-induced L&D and human mobility will facilitate adaptive strategies for addressing this challenge. As policymakers and negotiators engage in future climate talks such as the upcoming global climate change conference in Baku, Azerbaijan (COP29), it is prudent to prioritize evidence-based decision-making to ensure that the voices of the vulnerable are heard and their needs addressed through effective and context-specific solutions.

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A case study on L&D and climate-related human mobility in Ghana is available on our knowledge hub through a case study brief and a two-page primer. To further illustrate the case study, SLYCAN Trust in collaboration with its country partners also created a photography exhibition, which was showcased on the sidelines of the UNFCCC climate negotiations in 2023 and is available online here.