Emmanuel Ameyaw
A three-day conference on climate change has ended in Tamale with a call on the Northern Development Authority (NDA) to establish a climate adaptation fund to promote climate adaptation efforts and mitigate its impact in northern Ghana.
The Advocacy and Engagement Officer at YEFL Ghana, Fathiaya Zakari, who made the call in a communique issued at the event, explained that the fund would address the pressing issues of climate change adaptation and build resilience in Northern Ghana.
Giving the growing impact of climate crisis in the north, she said such fund would go a long way to support capacity building efforts and adaptation mechanisms.
“Also, authorities in Northern Ghana should prioritise investment in local climate change action through the District Assembly Common Fund, private sector, individuals and Internally Generated Funds (IGF) to support green businesses,” she added.
Pre-Conference of Parties
Organised by Changing Lives in Innovative Partnerships (CLIP) and YEFL Ghana, with funding support from Ghana Venskab from Denmark, the Pre-Conference of Parties (Pre-COP) event was on the theme, “Climate Change for Sustainable Development in Northern Ghana: Building Resilient and Empowered Communities.”
Other partners include Empowerment for Life Programme, Urbanet, Rains, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Youth Opportunity Partnership Programme (YOPP), Embassy of Denmark in Ghana and the Northern Regional Youth Network.
The event brought together relevant stakeholders across the country to deliberate on ways to fight climate change and build resilience in northern Ghana in the lead up to COP 29 to be held in Azerbaijan in November.
Commendation
In his remarks, the National Director in charge of Climate Vulnerabilities and Adaptation at EPA, Dr Antwi-Boasiako Amoah, commended YEFL Ghana and its partners for organising the event.
He said the country had been witnessing a consistent temperature rise for sometime now as a result of climate change which was impacting negatively the lives of people.
“The rainfall pattern has not been consistent and it has implications on water, energy generation, agriculture productivity, and other livelihood support that depends on water related activities,” he said.
Dr Amoah emphasised the need to invest in irrigation infrastructure and plant more trees to mitigate the impact of the climate crisis.
For his part, the Technical Advisor in-charge of Food Security and Climate Change at CLIP, Abdallah Mohammed, said all views and recommendations at the event would be made available to the relevant authorities and stakeholders for possible action.
Source: Daily Graphic
