Dr Emmanuel Tachie Obeng, Acting Director, Climate Change Unit, Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), has urged the youth to develop more interest in climate change issues. He said this could be done by studying, and researching to improve on their spheres, on climate, and to build their efforts as future leaders and decision makers to help solve the recurring climate challenges.
Dr Obeng was speaking at the Youth Adaptation Forum Ghana, which was organised by the Ghana Youth Environmental Movement (GYEM), in collaboration with the Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA), in Accra. The two-day forum was under the theme, “Youth Leadership to Build Climate-Resilience Economies.” It brought together youth leaders, climate experts, government representatives, and development partners to discuss practical youth-driven solutions for climate adaptation in Ghana.
He said climate change was one of the biggest threats to the global community today, and remained an indispensable risk to all facets of economic development.
“Ghana is already experiencing the consequence of climate change on destructive floods, drying of our rivers, energy deficiency, heat waves,” he added.
Dr Obeng said climate change was increasingly evident on daily basis, with many people across the country expressing concerns about the growing unpredictability of weather patterns. He said unlike in the past, when individuals could rely on relatively stable conditions to plan their activities, the weather now changed frequently and unexpectedly. “Moreover, projections for the future indicate that these changes are likely to become even more severe.
Dr Obeng noted that such a forum was considered very important, as climate adaptation and building resilience to climate change impacted national policy. He said climate change was not merely a long-term alteration of climate parameters and their impacts, but also about how these changes were understood by a broad spectrum of people, both in rural communities and urban centers who were directly experiencing its effects. He also urged the youth to be prepared to sustain and advance the momentum of climate education even after the forum.
Mr Tom Norring, the Danish Ambassador to Ghana, said there was an urgent need to address climate change, highlighting its long-term effects in Ghana, such as rising temperatures and extreme weather conditions. He stressed the responsibility of current generations to solve the climate crisis, noting the significant youth population in Ghana.
The Danish Ambassador to Ghana, said green transition was no longer an option but a necessity, urging youth engagement and action. He said Denmark’s ambitious climate target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent by 2030, was driven by youth engagement.
“Collaboration between public and private institutions, communities, businesses, and the media are very essential for real progress, and in creating a sustainable future,” he stressed. Mr Norring urged the youth to fully engage and participate in climate related activities, indicating that their engagements and actions today would shape the world tomorrow.
Madam Glory Emmanuella Appiah, Acting National Coordinator, GYEM, said the Movement was a leading youth-led environmental advocacy and campaigns group, with a vision transcended on working towards a sustainable environment and a just world. She said the forum was not just a moment but part of a wider process to ensure that young people in Ghana were equipped, engaged, and empowered to lead in building climate-resilient communities and economies.
Madam Appiah said from erratic weather patterns disrupting food systems to floods displacing families and damaging infrastructure, climate change was no longer a distant threat but a present and urgent reality, already shaping daily lives.
Source: GNA