Assistant Program Officer at the Climate Change Department of the Environmental Protection Agency, Isaac Kwabena Danso has urged all individuals to disregard claims of government funding all Ghanaian attendees at the Conference of Parties (COP 28).
This was a response to the controversies raised by Ghana Web’s news item on the number of attendees registered by the government for COP28. The news item suggested that the government had funded a large amount of delegates to Dubai while failing to effectively address the national economic situation.
Addressing the issue on Campus Exclusive this morning, Isaac Danso clarified that the government only funded those representing the country and not other Ghanaian organizational representatives.
“Some people are coming to showcase what they are doing from the government sector to the non state actors and all but then they will need accreditation before they enter into the premises. Their support and funding is not coming from the government. The CSOs and other private entities are coming and they are coming to showcase their businesses. The numbers we are seeing are just the results of the accreditation. They are not government delegations. We keep talking about this each and every year before we come. We keep hearing these issues and sometimes it’s quite disturbing.”
He hailed Ghana’s initiative to incorporate climate change studies in basic education. Mr. Danso also called on individuals to embrace the advocacy of climate change awareness in the country.
” Ghana is making a lot of progress in this matter, and I have to admit that I only recently entered the picture, albeit with some experience. I am aware that it all began with two individuals travelling to Ghana for each of the events. Efforts are being made there to mitigate the effects of climate change, which is a positive development that we should all support. It is important to note the inclusion of climate change studies in basic education in the country. We want to advance that to the secondary cycle and the tertiary cycle.”
Meanwhile, Climatologist and Professor of Physics at the University of Ghana, Prof. Ama Brown Klutse has expressed contentment with Africans becoming more interested in studying and advocating for climate change.
“Africans are becoming more enthusiastic. you can see the zeal. You can see the interest has grown over the past few years. I am happy that interest is growing and it starts with the interest; we need to have solutions to the impact of climate change on us. The impact in Africa is more devastating than even other regions because we cannot adapt to the impact of climate change. So I’m happy that Africans are getting involved. They are becoming frank as they are supposed to be, talking and explaining the issues that we have at the moment, so we need to have solutions.”
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Story by: Michelle Lartey | univers.ug.edu.gh
