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Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the President of the Republic, has reiterated Ghana’s desire to pressure COP27 to fulfill its pledge to double funding for climate adaptation initiatives on the continent.
The President declared that “it is time to translate words into deeds and aspirations into reality.
People all over the world will be watching the decision-makers at COP27 with the world in ruins and under water.
If they want to avoid being condemned by history, they must deliver.
He had the opinion that, in addition to “making economic sense,” financing climate adaptation is significantly more cost-effective than paying bills as they become due for increasingly frequent and severe climate shocks and disasters.
The consequence of this, he continued, will mean that, “as a middle-income economy, Ghana stands to lose out to the effects of more acute and frequent climate hazards. Despite significant progress made through the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme (AAAP), on climate emergency.”
On September 5, 2022, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, at the Virtual Climate Adaptation Summit, the President made this statement.
We are conscious of the current geopolitical situation, President Akufo-Addo remarked in his opening remarks.
Global food and energy security is in jeopardy, inflation is rising quickly, and climate change threatens the advancements we have made, particularly in Africa.
Africa is still suffering as a result of COVID-19, which caused the region’s first recession in about twenty-five (25) years.
Twenty-six million (26 million) people experienced acute poverty, and thirty million (30 million) jobs were destroyed as a result of the pandemic’s effects in Africa, he stated.
“My country, Ghana, is attempting to use her own fiscal resources to address these risks. The same is true for other African countries. However, the growing food and fuel crises are limiting severely our fiscal space to respond effectively, as the cost of borrowing goes up prohibitively, and access to the capital market tightens dramatically,” he stated.
Stating further that, “Africa contributes the least to the climate emergency, yet we are facing increasing and more intense climate-related extreme events. We are at a crossroads. If we want our continent to thrive, we have to adapt to climate change. And, to achieve this, adaptation financing needs to start flowing at scale. Climate action must not become another casualty of the complex geopolitical era that we are experiencing”.
President Akufo-Addo was confident that, “the AAAP, with its laser focus on food security, resilient infrastructure, climate finance, and youth employment, is Africa’s solution to the multiple crises we face.
The program plans to raise about $25 billion over the course of five years in order to scale up and speed up adaptation activities.
In a very admirable act, the African Development Bank has agreed to contribute half of this sum.
This demonstrates that Africa is capable of taking the initiative and being persistent in finding answers to her issues.
But he quickly added, “Africa needs its allies from around the world to step up their assistance for practical adaptation solutions, given through the AAAP.
The industrialized countries’ pledge of $100 billion (US$100 billion) for climate change needs to be fulfilled, and we anticipate these partners will show their support and friendship by delivering the other half.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
