Climate Change is as a result of Global Warming, and Global Warming from built up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The major culprits of greenhouse gases are fossil fuels. The Global Community led by the UN has chartered a path to roll back the impacts of climate change, whilst efforts are also initiated to curtail global emissions.
Climate change has affected the way the we live in this world, and truly it will take a long time, if possible, for life to return to pre-industrial situations. From climate to Agriculture, Health, Water, Sanitation, Livelihoods, and to the built environment, among others, the impacts of climate change can be felt. Every year, the Global Body, UN, organises the conference of parties (COP) meetings as a high-level event for Governments across the world to share and deliberate on ideas on how to respond to the ravaging impacts of climate change.
Thankfully, Ghana has a climate change policy to guide our actions and inactions, we have a minister of state in charge of climate change and sustainability. In addition to the different institutions that play various roles. Climate change is not limited to any particular discipline; it evokes interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary considerations in responding to its impact. Climate Change is indeed a big thing because it comes not only with negative impacts but positive impacts and opportunities as well. Taking advantage of the positive impacts and opportunities can elevate the adaptive capacity of the country. Some of the glaring negative impacts of climate change in Ghana include:
Sea level rise: This has necessitated sea defense walls along the coastal towns and cities of the country. Some towns and villages cannot be found today as they have been covered by the rising sea level. Definitely we empathize with our brothers and sisters whose Towns and communities have undoubtedly been taken over by the sea. Heritage has been disrupted, sites which are at the very core of the identity of the affected communities are all lost, possibly forever. Indeed, it has been projected that globally, many coastal cities will be under the sea in some years to come if action to roll back climate change and its impacts are not hastened. This has resulted in the government having to resettle and possibly compensate affected populations, and construct sea defense walls.
Droughts: Unfortunately, today when you expect rainfall, it does not come and when you do not expect it, it comes. Drought suggests that farmers cannot cultivate their crops. Lack of crops means that farmers will be denied access to food and livelihoods. They cannot meet their food needs. This increases household sufferings resulting in increased household poverty. The intense poverty triggers migration to urban areas in search of sometimes non-existing jobs. Many of the migrants fall into difficulties and challenges of urban life. The weight of the population bears strongly on the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs). This results in MMDAs also struggling to manage their jurisdictions.
Floods: the climate disruptions have resulted in high atmospheric temperatures. This has affected the rainfall patterns, resulting in intensive rainfalls. Due to the poor adaptive capacities of many towns and cities, the drains fail, and this leads to flood situations.
Agriculture: Climate Change has resulted in crop failures with its attended problems. These include loss of livelihoods, food insecurity, and increased levels of poverty.
Health: The increase in temperatures has resulted in increased incidence of existing and new diseases. Certain vector borne diseases have been activated by the extremes in the environmental temperature.
Urban heat islands: The practice of cementing the floors of urban areas, traps heat in urban environments, called ‘urban heat islands. This makes our city environment very hot. These are just a few examples of the challenges.
Inspite of the challenges, climate change also offers with several opportunities. There are opportunities for creativity and innovations in almost everything that we do. There are opportunities to introduce different crop varieties that are able to withstand the current environmental conditions, others are efficient water use technologies and innovations due to drying of water bodies, especially in the irrigation and water management space. Huge entrepreneurial opportunities exist for businesses and entrepreneurs who will provide solutions to the challenges brought by climate change. Others are energy, building technology, architecture, among others.
This is where we need leadership that is sufficiently oriented about these issues to drive change and innovation in society. Tackling the climate change challenge must begin from the individual, community, district, national, and regional, to the global level. Thankfully, a lot of work and investments have gone into research and different studies aimed at mainstreaming climate change technologies and innovations into the way we live. To effectively tackle climate change, its challenges and opportunities, Ghana must commit to policies and programmes to leverage on the gains made at the COP-29.
COP29, The UN Climate Change Conference closed on 24th November, 2024, with a new finance goal to help countries to protect their people and economies against climate disasters, and share in the vast benefits of the clean energy boom.
Focusing mainly on climate finance, COP29 brought together nearly 200 countries in Baku, Azerbaijan, and reached a breakthrough agreement that will:
• Triple finance to developing countries, from the previous goal of USD 100 billion annually, to USD 300 billion annually by 2035.
• Secure efforts of all actors to work together to scale up finance to developing countries, from public and private sources, to the amount of USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2035.
“This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country,” said Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change. “But like any insurance policy – it only works – if premiums are paid in full, and on time. Promises must be kept, to protect billions of lives.”
COP29 was an important moment for adaptation, with the delivery of several key outcomes. The COP decision on matters relating to the least developed countries (LDCs) contains a provision for the establishment of a support programme for the implementation of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) for the LDCs. Parties extensively discussed the second five-year assessment of progress to formulate and implement NAPs, and will continue that in June 2025.
Countries agreed a decision on gender and climate change, extending the enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender and Climate Change for another 10 years, reaffirming the importance of gender equality and advancing gender mainstreaming throughout the convention. They also agreed to develop a new gender action plan for adoption at COP30, which will set the direction for concrete implementation.
The decisions taken at COP29 also reemphasize the critical importance of empowering all stakeholders to engage in climate action; in particular under Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE). Parties recalled the importance of integrating ACE elements into national climate change policies, plans, strategies and action, and noted the secretariat’s compendium of good practices for integrating ACE elements into NDCs.
Following the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, the nation is prepared to implement several strategic initiatives and interventions to address climate change and promote sustainable development. Key actions include:
Ghana unveiled its ambitious Climate Prosperity Plan at COP29, aiming to simultaneously tackle climate challenges and stimulate economic growth. The CPP focuses on investments in renewable energy, sustainable infrastructure, and climate-resilient economic policies, targeting an economic gain of USD 76 billion by 2050. This plan is designed to create fiscal space, enabling Ghana to adapt to and mitigate climate impacts without compromising economic development.
Ghana has actively engaged in carbon trading, securing agreements with countries such as Switzerland and Sweden, resulting in revenues of approximately USD 800 million. These partnerships involve projects like improved cooking stoves, which contribute to emission reductions and provide financial resources for sustainable initiatives.
At COP29, Ghana emphasized the need to revolutionize climate finance, focusing on innovative funding mechanisms to support climate-related projects. The country is committed to enhancing access to climate finance, particularly for local communities, to implement adaptation and mitigation strategies effectively.
Recognizing the importance of grassroots involvement, Ghana has initiated debriefing forums to disseminate COP29 outcomes to local communities. For instance, a forum in Tamale aimed to spark discussions on leveraging global climate policies for local solutions, ensuring that the benefits of international agreements are realized at the community level.
Ghana has many policies, institutions, and programmes on the environment and climate change. It is important that we strive to achieve synergy in these policies and their implementation. Action on climate change should be more intentional and tailored to the needs of the country. The implementation of climate action should be woven into the issues of Agriculture, Livelihoods, Food Security, Poverty reduction, environmental conservation, protection, and preservation, among others. We need to promote sustainable governance and ethical leadership as we seek to adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
We need courageous leaders with the moral courage, integrity and conviction to drive sustainable and best practices in the climate change adaptation and mitigation processes. The required capital for climate action should be made available to key stakeholders for implementation. Continued government and stakeholder support is needed to sustain the gains made and continue to raise the bar of sustainability.
We need to breakdown the concepts of climate change to a level that the citizenry can understand and appreciate. Enhanced understanding will impact perceptions, attitudes and behaviours of the citizenry. Gender mainstreaming should be pursued. Managers of Towns and Cities should bear in mind that with worsening situations of climate change, the nation will become more and more urbanized through migration and development. Therefore, we should prepare for that. In COP30, which will take place this year, I envisage the nation to have moved ahead with adaptation and mitigation plans and strategies, and strengthened financial resources for tackling climate change.
This is crucial, because poor and inefficient management of climate change means that future generations’ ability to meet their needs will be compromised. This should not be the case. Let’s focus on striking a good balance between people, profit and the planet, through which we can maximise the opportunities inherent in climate change. Government should not be the sole bearer of the financial burden of climate change adaptation and mitigation. Let us create opportunities for the private sector to explore and invest in the mitigation and adaptation space.
