"African Climate Week has been very useful for young people" – Mr. Seth Osafo

General News of Thursday, March 28, 2019

Source: bbc.com

2019-03-28

Mr. Seth Osafo, Legal Advisor to the African Negotiators for the UN Climate Negotiations, said the African Climate Week, hosted by Ghana, was very helpful for young people, who prepared them to join to fight against the phenomenon.

He said that the African Climate Week was an important platform for Africans to meet to discuss climate change, its impact on the continent and what Africa could do for Africa. adapt to its impacts.

Sending to the Ghana News Agency at the end of the conference in Accra, Mr Osafo said that engagement with young people, in separate sessions of the conference, was essential because they needed to understand what climate change is.

"Young people need to understand what is really happening. For me, the key point of the summit was the involvement of young people – they have energy and if they understood the problems very well, it would be the right direction for the fight. and mitigating impacts, "said Osafo.

"The biggest part of our population is young people. Therefore, if we can involve them and prepare them to get involved very actively, we will progress a bit. "

"We also need to understand the scientific aspects of what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change does not stop repeating: Africa is the continent that suffers the most from climate change – the most affected and to make whatever it is at the national level, we need to do the same at the national level. the international level to make the voice of Africa heard. "

"In order for any action to be taken to be internationally coordinated, we will then ensure that it is dealt with together."

The African Climate Week (ACW), which ended in Accra last week, is the first of three annual regional climate events organized this year, the other two being Climate Week in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Caribbean. Climate Week in Asia-Pacific.

The ACW took place on the theme: "Action for Climate Change in Africa: A Race We Can Win" organized by the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, UNFCCC , the Nairobi framework partners and the West African Development Bank.

The event aimed to discuss how Africa could partner to implement its nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to mitigate climate change.

More than 2,000 delegates from government and non-government actors, representatives from the private sector, civil society organizations (CSOs), women's groups, youth, climate experts and media from the whole world attended the meeting.

Osafo said the issue of climatology, as the main theme of the conference, was as important as the involvement of young people.

He noted that it was important to bring Africans together, including government institutions, civil society organizations, women's groups and youth, to discuss climate change and the way forward.

"Africa is already feeling the effects of climate change. Hurricane Idai, which recently struck and devastated parts of Mozambique and Malawi, and the frequency of such events could attest to the fact that climate change is a contributing factor. "

Osafo said the frequency of events, especially in Africa, should spur the continent to focus on the future and prepare for the challenges.

"Climate change will happen anyway, so we must be prepared to adapt to its effects by taking action at the national and national levels, while development plans should indicate how to address these challenges and mitigate impacts," he said. did he declare.

"The message of the African Climate Week must be sustainable development and we must ensure that our development is sustainable and non-destructive."

"We must preserve our forests. We can not continue cutting down our trees and using them for charcoal and baduming trees grow alone. We must take tree planting very seriously. "