Ghana is close to issuing forest carbon credits under its ambitious J-REDD+ programme, according to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
This comes as ministers and senior officials gathered in London with COP30 and COP31 leaders to accelerate global action on forests ahead of the 2030 target to halt and reverse forest loss.
Ghana’s flagship Jurisdictional Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (J-REDD+) framework seeks to transition traditional REDD+ projects into large-scale national carbon credit programmes.
By focusing on entire ecological zones and linking climate finance directly to sustainable agriculture and livelihoods, the initiative aims to protect forests while delivering direct benefits to rural communities.
Speaking at the event, the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Yusif Sulemana, called for a trusted international framework for jurisdictional forest carbon credits, stressing the programme’s potential to scale investment into high-quality forest and land-use mitigation activities that deliver climate benefits while improving livelihoods.
The event, dubbed “From Glasgow to Addis Ababa: FCLP and COP Presidencies Building Momentum on Forests from COP30 to COP31,” focused on keeping forests at the centre of international climate cooperation, from COP30 in Brazil through COP31 in Türkiye.
Ministers from Nigeria, Indonesia and Ghana shared national initiatives and priorities, including commitments on land tenure, sustainable bioeconomy projects and high-integrity forest carbon credits.
Nigeria’s Environment Minister, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, highlighted government efforts such as the Great Green Wall initiative and the National Clean Cooking Policy, reaffirming Nigeria’s support for land tenure commitments.
Indonesia’s Forestry Minister, Raja Juli Antoni, emphasised the importance of protecting tropical peatlands and mangroves, noting that Indonesia hosts about 3.4 million hectares of mangroves, representing roughly 23 per cent of the world’s mangrove ecosystems.
The event also featured new commitments on land tenure rights from Peru and Brazil, as well as a major forest finance pledge from Norway, highlighting growing momentum for forest protection and climate action ahead of COP30 in Brazil and COP31 in Türkiye.
The gathering underscored the increasing importance of forests in the global climate agenda, bringing together representatives from multiple COP cycles to discuss how political leadership, finance and implementation can help achieve the goal of halting and reversing forest loss by 2030.
COP30 President André Aranha Corrêa do Lago described the “From Glasgow to Addis Ababa” initiative as key to maintaining momentum from ambition to implementation on forests.
COP31 President Murat Kurum, Türkiye’s Minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, said the COP31 Action Agenda is designed to strengthen partnerships, advance practical solutions and ensure lasting impact through ten priority themes targeting global climate challenges.
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