We’re putting measures in place to tackle climate change menace — Minister

As part of measures to increase the country’s capacity to adapt to climate change, the government is putting in place legal and policy frameworks to support institutions, communities and individuals to build resilience for sustainable livelihoods. 

The measures are aimed at helping vulnerable societies to become better positioned to deal with the menace, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Ophelia Mensah Hayford, has said.

She said the increasing spate of change impacted lives and livelihoods and, therefore, required stronger collaboration with stakeholders to establish social protection schemes for affected communities.

“Establishing social protection schemes for affected communities has become more than urgent considering the case of the over 26,000 people who were affected in the October 2023 flooding in the south-eastern part of the country,” she said.

The minister, who is also the MP for Mfantseman, was speaking at a climate change conference – Evidence to Adaptation (E2A), in Accra yesterday. The five-day conference is on the theme: “Resilience and climate change adaptation”.

The conference would discuss innovative research and evidence on climate change and its impact on Sub-Saharan Africa and identify practical solutions and strategies to address challenges posed by climate change in the region.

Other topics are artificial intelligence, adaptation methods and climate-resilient infrastructure; climate and disaster risk finance and insurance; youth and climate change and policy, among others.

Sound policies

The Special Advisor at the Vice-President’s Secretariat at the Office of the President, Prof. Kwaku Appiah-Adu, also said that it was important for countries to harness the potential of sound policies and technology to help address the climate crisis.

He said while the country was focused on ensuring that the national climate change policy and the climate change adaptation plan were followed, it was equally important to engage local communities and civil society organisations in the implementation of adaptation initiatives.

Prof. Appiah-Adu said to the extent that climate change was a global crisis that spared no one, there was a need to strengthen international collaborations anchored on knowledge sharing and mobilisation of resources to sustainably tackle the scourge of the menace.

He said although access to funds remained the greatest challenge to implementing adaptation interventions, countries could provide private capital to fund those initiatives.

Collaboration

The Director of ISSER, Prof. Peter Quartey, called for stronger collaboration to tackle the climate crisis. He said what African countries needed to do was to leverage the power of research to provide clear evidence for climate action, adding “we need evidence generated from the African continent by the people of the continent”.

The Head of Civil Service, Dr Evans Aggrey-Darkoh, said apart from building resilience, tackling the climate crisis required a multi-sectoral collaboration that prioritised foresight, planning and sharing of best practices.

He gave an assurance that the Civil Service was ready to play a key role in the implementation of climate change policies in the country. The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment, Dr Emmanuel Marfo, stressed the need for reliable data for climate change interventions to ensure proper accountability for climate change impact to attract the needed funds.

He said the Parliamentary Group of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) was putting climate change on the front burner to ensure effective oversight of the implementation of climate change policies and interventions.

Commendation

The Economic Growth Office Director, United States International Development Agency (USAID) Mission in Ghana, Andrew Read, commended Ghana for its climate adaptation initiatives some of which culminated in the receipt of carbon credit.

He said the theme for the conference pointed to the urgent need to explore how adaptation could enhance resilience.

Mr Read said to make sustainable gains in tackling the climate crisis, it was important to prioritise investment in research, promote innovation and leverage technology across all sectors, especially agriculture.