The President-General of the West Africa Nobles Forum (WANF), Nana Dr Appiagyei Dankawoso I, has advocated urgent and inclusive action on climate change to effectively tackle its increasing impact.
He said although climate change was the greatest threat to sustainable development with its impact increasing by the day, efforts to address it seemed to have slowed down since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The world is sitting on a ticking time bomb and we must not take the impact of climate change for granted. We must strictly enforce laws on illegal logging and mining, sand winning, and similar acts that hurt the environment.
“The ministries, departments, and agencies that have some responsibilities must implement various adaptations and mitigation measures without delay so the country can meet the SDG13 on climate change,” he said.
This was contained in a statement issued by Nana Dankawoso I, the Omanhenekyeame of Asante Juaben Traditional Area, in Accra yesterday and copied to the Ghanaian Times.
WANF is a non-governmental group of more than 3,000 eminent personalities from various fields of work across the sub-region, set up in 2003, to promote integrity and accountability as well as drive socio-economic integration.
According to the statement, for two years, the world had been fixated on how to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, and its socio-economic impact, but efforts on climate change whose impact was deadlier had slowed down.
“Gradually, global heating has been wreaking havoc in the full glare of our eyes, but, perhaps, because its impact has not instantly and boisterously swept through the world like COVID-19, efforts to tackle it seem slow,” it said.
Referencing a recent warning by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it said the world was on the verge of exceeding the one-point-five degrees Celsius (1.5oC) target set by world leaders and experts.
It said the impact of climate change was manifesting in changing rain patterns, rising sea temperatures and levels, flooding in some parts, and droughts in other parts, among others.
This, it said, was a scary situation that was negatively affecting livelihoods, food, and water security, and socio-economic development with recent floods in parts of the country serving as a grim reminder.
“If we do not tackle climate change, we cannot eradicate poverty, particularly, in rural communities where people depend, largely, on the natural habit for their livelihoods.
“WANF wants efforts doubled because if we do not tackle climate change, we cannot eliminate hunger, ensure good health and well-being, build sustainable cities and communities and protect life below water and on land as desired through the sustainable development goals (SGDS),” it said.
The statement commended the efforts of governments in West Africa for the various climate actions, for instance, Ghana’s Green Ghana Day tree planting project.
It pledged WANF’s contribution to the climate change fight through advocacy and public education.
BY TIMES REPORTER
