Deputy Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development Mr. O. B. Amoah has called for strengthening of interventions to address climate change.
Such efforts, he said, must ensure that stakeholders at all levels are involved and playing their part to help address the negative effects of climate change in the country.
According to him, the increasing negative effects of climate change has manifested in rising temperatures, reduced and unreliable rainfall patterns, extreme storm events and changing seasonal patterns that have become more threatening in recent times.
He stated that the government is very much aware of the adverse effects of climate change on the various sectors of the economy especially on agriculture, energy, water resources, health and livelihoods in the local and rural areas of Ghana.
Speaking at the launch of Climate Communications and Local Governance-Africa (CCLG-Africa) in Parliament on Monday, Mr. O. B. Amoah indicated that it has become imperative to quickly respond to the phenomenon by formulating the appropriate policies, plans, and programmes and intensifying the mobilisation of local governments to effectively mainstream climate change into interventions to adapt or mitigate the negative effects of climate change.
The CCLG-Africa is a network of media professionals and environmental experts dedicated to the pursuit climate change and the environment.
It is also aimed at making the national discourse on climate change and the need to work towards saving the environment each individual’s primary concern and responsibility.
Mr O. B. Amoah said Ghana has adopted a Climate Change Policy and Master Plan, Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans developed by the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) to streamline the climate change agenda towards achieving the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs).
“I therefore wish to use this opportunity to commend MESTI and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for providing leadership in the formulation of policies and plans to guide the fight against climate change in the country”, he urged.
Mr O. B. Amoah disclosed that in line with localising the climate change actions, the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development has introduced interventions to sensitise metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs), build capacity and provide financial support for the implementation of activities that create green based livelihoods and alternative livelihoods.
Some of these interventions, he said, include the Local Climate Adaptive Living (LoCAL) Project/ Boosting Green Enterprise and Employment Opportunities (GrEEn) Project supported by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the Ghana Productive Safety Net Project (GPSNP) funded by the World Bank.
The Deputy Minister who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Akuapem South stated that the goals and objectives of all the policies and plans would not be achieved if stakeholders are not well informed and are therefore unable to provide the necessary support.
Mr. O. B. Amoah praised the launch of the CCLG-Africa and expressed hope it would contribute to information sharing and education of all stakeholders at the local level.
He urged Members of Parliament and all participants to bring to the fore in their respective constituencies and district assemblies, issues relating to climate change and the measures that have been put in place to address the negative impact of climate change in the country.
Ghana in so doing, he said, will make good progress towards achieving SDG Goal 13 on Climate Change that would influence the achievement of other equally important SDG goals.
President of CCLG-AFRICA, Kofi Don Agor, noted that the total health conditions of any group of persons is a true reflection of their environment.
He averred that failure of the educational set up and religious institutions to make this a primary component of practices has largely contributed to the fast degradation of the environment being witnessed today.
Mr Agor appealed to government to assist the network through collaborative efforts such as building the capacity of members through training programs to help them disseminate information on government policies at the local levels in the manner that suits such communities.
