It is crucial to join our efforts to fight against climate change – Akufo-Addo tells African countries

General News on Thursday, March 21, 2019

Source: Graphic.com.gh

2019-03-21

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo urges Africans to unite with the rest of the world to end climate change, with the environment and the continent's economies being the most vulnerable to the effects of what he described as a phenomenon destructive.

He cautioned that with agriculture, water and energy being key drivers of development on the continent and sensitive to climate change, bold and concrete steps were needed to prevent global climate change. to warm up beyond unreasonable limits.

"I call on all Africans to support and join the fight against climate change; It is imperative to join the call made in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at protecting, restoring and promoting the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainable land forests, the fight against desertification and the fight against climate change. against land degradation, "he urged.

President Akufo-Addo took the lead when he spoke at a high-level session yesterday in Accra at the five-day conference on African Climate Week.

It was on the theme: "The climate in Africa: a race that we can win."

It was organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), with the support of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and the Ministry of Environment. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Impact of global warming

The President noted that global warming is having a huge impact on the fundamentals needed for survival on Earth. He cited cases such as sea level rise, extreme and extreme weather conditions, including droughts, floods, irregular rainfall patterns and increasing desertification. climate change.

He said that for Africans, the ravages of climate change were affecting the continent the most and that the one – week program offered an opportunity to show the progress made in the fight against this phenomenon and to improve the climate. deepen the required partnership at the global level. to fight it.

Access to funds

President Akufo-Addo noted that almost all developing countries face the need to streamline access to international climate finance to complement domestic financing to reduce carbon emissions on the continent African.

"We are striving to do our part to end the effects of climate change at the national level, but we also expect a lot at the international level. One of our main problems is the need to streamline access to international climate finance to complement national funding, "he said.

In the meantime, he urged participants to use the forum to find practical ways to mobilize financial resources to support the implementation of their national climate actions.

"We need to find practical solutions that will benefit us in Africa, and your solutions must match the aspirations of our people and help put the world on a path of sustainable and sustainable development," he said.

interventions

With regard to Ghana, President Akufo-Addo said that the measures put in place to combat climate change were included in the Coordinated National Program of Economic and Social Policies (CPESDP) for the period 2017-2024.

He cited Planting to create jobs and creating jobs, A village, a dam, a district, a factory (1D1F), among the interventions to boost industrialization and rural development and strengthen the resilience of the country facing the effects of climate change. .

"The strategic goal of the 1D1F initiative in the northern regions is to provide access to water throughout the year for smallholder farmers to ensure they have access to water throughout the year. virtually other livelihoods during the dry season.

"We are also determined to make natural gas, which we have in abundance, available for electricity production," he said, and has tasked the Ministries of Energy and Finance with propose special incentives to the introduction of electric cars in the country. .

Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Minister of the Environment, said Ghana is implementing a number of climate change programs, including the promotion of renewable energy, to reduce deforestation and degradation. forests, as well as the search for low carbon electricity. , strengthen resilience and invest in defense walls against the sea.

Highlighting the diverse effects of climate change on the country's economy, he said the government had also hired 20,000 young people to plant 10 million tree seedlings as part of the national effort to mitigate the negative effects of climate change in the country.

Recommendation

The UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary, Mr. Ovals Sarmad, said in February this year that 17 state leaders from the Sahel region approved an investment plan worth US $ 400. billions of dollars to support the fight against climate change over the next 12 years.

"This plan reflects the commitments made by African countries under the Paris Agreement and it is this kind of commitment that we must see throughout the region and the world," he said. he declared.

For his part, the President of the Conference of the Parties (COP) 24, Mr. Michael Kurtyka, urged African countries to intensify their actions to combat climate change to enable them to meet the obligations that they face. are incumbent under the Paris Agreement.