EPA urges transformation of economy towards low-carbon and climate-resilient growth
Dr John Kingsley Krugu, Executive Director, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has underscored the need to safeguard the environment and transform the economy towards low-carbon and climate-resilient growth.
He said this mitigate the risk of climate change that might occur to people, animals, crops, and material goods.
The Executive Director said this during a National Validation Workshop on Readiness Assessment for Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategy (LT-LEDS) for Ghana.
At the workshop, this year’s Climate Change Education Week is slated from April 22, 2024, to April 26, 2024, was announced.
Dr Krugu called on development partners, and relevant stakeholders to partner with EPA in the 2024 edition of the Climate Change Education Week, for public education and awareness creation on climate change and its related issues.
The overall objective of the workshop was to ensure that priority mitigation actions from all stakeholders were well reflected in the draft national document, ensuring that most policy and operational gaps, as well as pipeline sectoral actions were included in the draft report.
Di Krugu said the report covered policy coverage analysis, which involved the analysis of the range of policies from national development plans to sector-specific policies.
He said the report also covered frameworks, assessing their ambition for LT-LEDS and related feasibility based on current progress and challenges.
“Finally, it covers thematic areas of interest for Ghana, specific sectors identified as critical for emission reduction and adapting to climate change.”
“Stakeholders involvement, which identified key stakeholders in the long-term climate planning, the roles they played, and ongoing processes and institutional arrangements,” the Executive Director added.
Dr Winfred Nelson, Director for Development Coordination, National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), said the commission was responsible for advising the President of the Republic of Ghana and Parliament on national development policy and strategy.
He said over the years a long-term national development planning framework had been prepared. and that currently, they were looking at working on the 40-year plan by revising all issues related to environment and low emission development.
The Director urged the participant to desist from focusing on only emission. but also take into consideration the implications of other socio-economic activities on emissions.
He said stakeholder processes were critical to the NDPC, and that it was essential to engage all stakeholders to also get access their inputs in the report.
Dr Nelson said as part of the political processes and with the long-term framework, the idea was for all the political parties to draw their manifestos from it due to the issues related to environment and low emissions.
“So, with these processes, we are assured that issues of low emissions and so on will somehow reflect in our national medium-term development plans and frameworks,” he added.
Source: GNA