Environmentalist and lecturer at the University of Environment and Sustainable Development, Professor Edward Wiafe, says Ghana only pays lip service to climate change advocacy.
From his personal point of view, Ghana as a country has not paid serious attention to addressing issues of climate change.
“From my point of view, Ghana as a country has not been serious about climate change. We are only serious about it when there is an international conference for us to attend and we show our head. But when the conference is over, we don’t see or hear anything being done about climate change,” he told Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show.
Explaining his stance, he revealed the country has participated in a number of conferences on climate change but Ghana keeps suffering the effects of climate change more than ever.
“Whenever it rains, we record numerous incidents of flooding and when there is harmattan as well, fire outbreaks increase. So those of us in the country do not benefit from the many climate change conferences we participate in,” he added.
He described measures put in place by government to address climate change as “paracetamol treatment”. The environmentalist championed a concerted effort from all sectors of the economy to fight climate change.
Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation in Accra, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, confirmed to pressmen last week that Ghana will be sending a delegation of over 320 persons to the ongoing 27th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 27) in Egypt.
He explained that out of a total of 322 people attending, attendees are pooled from both state and non-state institutions having duly registered on the government’s portal to attend and participate in COP27.
Dr Afriyie explained that of the total, participants from government institutions account for 226, while those from non-state actors are 72 and those belonging to the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) are 24.
From 6 to 18 November, Heads of State, ministers, and negotiators, along with climate activists, mayors, civil society representatives and CEOs are meeting in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh for the largest annual gathering on climate action.
The 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – COP27 – builds on the outcomes of COP26 to deliver action on an array of issues critical to tackling the climate emergency – from urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions, building resilience, and adapting to the inevitable impacts of climate change, to delivering on the commitments to finance climate action in developing countries.
Faced with a growing energy crisis, record greenhouse gas concentrations, and increasing extreme weather events, COP27 seeks renewed solidarity between countries, to deliver on the landmark Paris Agreement, for people and the planet.
