The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has begun a training initiative aimed at equipping Ghanaians with the skills to tap into opportunities within the global carbon market, a sector the Authority believes can generate significant revenue for the nation while creating thousands of jobs for unemployed youth.

The maiden programme is expected to train about 25 participants to build their capacity in carbon market trading and position them to support both personal growth and national development.

Speaking to journalists at the training, which was held at the AB & David Hotel in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer of the EPA, Professor Nana Ama Browne Klutse, described the initiative as a crucial step in Ghana’s broader climate finance and sustainability agenda.

According to her, “the Environmental Protection Authority is, for the first time, doing a training on carbon markets. What we want to do is that the carbon market is trending in the world, and in Ghana, per our assessments, we have a huge carbon credit. We can trade for money and for technologies, renewable energy technologies that will help the country and help the citizens.”

Professor Klutse explained that over two years, the Authority has been building technical knowledge through its Carbon Market Office, and it is now time to extend that expertise across institutions and individuals nationwide.
“We’ve done a lot of learning and had some experiences, and we need to expand it to other institutions in the country, other individuals to build their capacity in carbon market trading,” she stated.

She emphasised that the training will benefit not only participants but the country at large.
“Apart from individual gains, the country also gains as one of the countries with credibility in carbon accreditation and carbon market experience. So that is why we are setting up this training.”

Professor Klutse noted that interest in the programme has been encouraging, with participants drawn from diverse organisations eager to understand carbon trading.
“We have seen the participants coming from different institutions that are interested in carbon market trading. We believe this will be widespread through all other institutions.”

She revealed that the EPA intends to scale up the programme in response to demand.
“This is the first one. We expect to have different cohorts after this first one, depending on the interest of people. And we believe that several institutions should be interested in this. This is a big opportunity for us to gain money and also to gain technology.”

Professor Klutse stressed that the economic potential is significant, adding that if properly harnessed, Ghana could attract up to 1 billion dollars in investments over the next four years and create an estimated 5,000 jobs.