Ghana on Thursday, kickstarted preparations towards its participation in the 28th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), to be held from November 30 to December 12, 2023, at the Expo City, Dubai.
The country has therefore set up an 18-member Central Planning Committee drawn up from ministries and other stakeholders to plan and coordinate activities across sectors for successful participation.
They are to among other functions, plan the programmes for the pavilion, coordinate information sharing among the various sectors participating in the conference and plan for Ghana day Pre-COP meeting.
The Committee is to support resource mobilisation where needed, for Ghana’s participation in the event and put together a post COP report.
Dr Kwaku Afriyie, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), who inaugurated the committee, said Ghana’s economic and human development was vulnerable to climate change.
“This is why we need to attend and join other countries with similar concerns to push for resources to be able to live with these events,” he said
He said the conference provided parties, including Ghana, the opportunity to review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments such as the Paris Agreement, previously adopted by the COP.
“We often hear complaints about the number of people attending these meetings. I wish many Ghanaians will be able to secure funding to participate in the conference, because we are all feeling the impacts of climate change including high temperature and unpredictable rains affecting our crop production,” he said.
“I would like to reiterate that only a few people are sponsored by the government to attend the conference. Most of the attendees including staff of the Ministries are financed by international development organisations and private sector institutions.”
The Committee has Dr Peter Dery, the Director of Environment at MESTI as its chairman with members including Dr Daniel Tutu Benefoh, Ghana’s UNFCCC Focal Person, Dr Antwi-Boasiako Amoah and Ms Irean Messiba, Representing the Ministry of Trade.
Others include Mr Joseph Osiakwan, a Representative of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resource and Mr Eric Kofi Afornorpe, a Representative of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
The rest are Mr Seth Mahu, a Representative of Minister of Energy, Mrs Juliana Bempah, and Mr Daniel Lamptey, representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency, Ms Abena Takyewaa, a representative of Ministry of Finance and V20, Selamawit Desta Wubet, a representative of Climate Vulnerable Forum and Dr Robert Afriyie, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Dr Afriyie said COP27 held in Egypt was successful and expressed the optimism that the COP28 would be fruitful.
“This year our participation in the COP will be unique. This is because the COP 28 would be Ghana’s last year in her role as the Presidency of the CVF and V20 Forum,” he said.
Dr Dery, on behalf of the Committee, thanked the Minister and pledged to work assiduously to deliver on the mandate assigned to ensure the country’s successful participation.
The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international climate summit.
Since 1995, it has been held annually unless Parties decide otherwise. At COPs, world leaders gather to work together on solutions to tackle climate change. There are now 199 Parties (198 States plus the European Union) to the Convention, constituting near universal membership.
COP28 UAE is a milestone opportunity for the world to come together, course correct, and drive progress.
There is the need for everyone to be more ambitious in the fight against climate change to meet the goals and ambition of the Paris Agreement.
COP28 will emphasise a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to climate action. Underscoring all efforts are the principles of transformation, solidarity, pragmatism, and inclusivity.
The world needs a COP of action and a COP for all.
GNA