Ghana has launched the 2024 Climate Change and Green Economy Week with a call to action to change the attitudes and lifestyles of Ghanaians toward environmental degradation.
At the media launch in Accra on Thursday, Dr Emmanuel Tachie-Obeng, the Acting Director of the Climate Change Unit of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), stated that some individual activities were detrimental to the environment and needed to be changed to protect it.
“Over the years, our way of life has destroyed the environment. For example, the cutting down of trees, destroying water bodies, and degrading soil, and we must change our minds and lifestyles to prevent environmental destruction,” he said.
Dr Tachie-Obeng said the week-long celebration, which was scheduled to begin from Monday, October 14 to Friday, October 18, 2024, would centre on discussions on climate action.
He said “Warming temperatures have disrupted rainfall patterns, depleted water resources, and harmed agriculture across the continent.
He said the celebration which was on the theme: “Greening Education: Changing our Mindset, Changing our Lifestyle,” would also sensitise the public about climate change through several activities, including media education and a street procession.
There would also be an opening ceremony, a national symposium and exhibition, youth dialogue between Ghana and Japan, community durbars, and the unveiling of climate change drawings in terms of health, floods, and agriculture.
The annual event has been held since 2016 as part of Ghana’s Climate and Green Economy Learning Strategy, to shed light on how climate change affects the country.
It had been raising awareness about the role public education could play in increasing the understanding of the challenges posed by the climate crisis and creating broad, community-driven action to try to stem its effects in the long term.
Originally conceived in 2009 as a side event to the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York to provide some discussion before the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties later that year, the event has since expanded into a sprawling, week-long takeover of New York City by anyone and everyone interested in climate action.
GNA