EPA and Vodafone Ghana hold durbar on climate change

May 13, 2011
Nkankama (E/R), May 13, GNA - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Vodafone Ghana have jointly embarked on a climate change educational campaign in the Fanteakwa District.

The campaign is aimed at educating the residents on early warning systems and preventive measures to take to mitigate the impact of climate change.

Known as the "Climate Change Adaptation", the initiative is aimed at reducing the effects of climate change in the District.

The project will also identify some degraded river banks and plant trees along them to serve as buffer zones.

At one of such educational campaigns held at Nkankama, Mr Felix Addo-Okyireh, Eastern Regional Director, EPA, said climate change and its implications for the environment, economy and sustainable development was real.

He said the phenomenon manifests itself in extreme weather events and adverse conditions due to the effects of global warming.

He said climate change increased the vulnerability of poor people by adversely affecting their health, livelihoods and undermined their opportunities for survival.

Mr Addo-Okyireh said climate change significantly reduced food security, displaced many people due to floods, droughts and rising sea levels and potentially increased the transmission of water borne diseases.

"It is recognized that Ghana faces serious challenges in terms of climate change hence proactive measures must be adopted to mitigate any future occurrences," he said.

He said for effective measures to be adopted, the citizenry must be equipped with the necessary information so as to become fully aware of what action to be taken.

Mr Addo-Okyireh said the area suffered from excessive flooding, rampant bushfires, illegal mining and logging, overgrazing as a result of the presence of Fulani herdsmen and erosion which had all culminated in reduction of food and cash crop yields.

Mrs Helen Asiamah, project coordinator for Vodafone Ghana, said that climate change was gradually affecting humanity adversely and as a company that was committed to the well-being of Ghanaians, it would leave nothing to chance in ensuring that the environment was safe.

GNA