President Akufo Addo slams world leaders over climate injustice but …

There is no iota doubt left that activities of human race have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The amount of carbon dioxide emissions in atmosphere traps heat, preventing it from escaping into the space. This brings about global warming. Human activities such as industrialization, urbanization and transportation to afford Comfortable lifestyles should be reexamined for our collective good. Our lifestyles if not changed will lead to environmental time bomb. As Margaret Thatcher aptly put it ‘the danger of global warming it is yet unseen but real enough for us to make changes and sacrifices so that we do not live at the expense of future generations.’

The effects of climate change are already biting across the globe. It brings about more storms, drought, floods, heavy downpours and crop failures. The effects of it will be far reaching on the vulnerable especially in Africa. Poor countries that are least responsible for causing it are the ones suffering most from its effects. However, most of governments especially in developing countries careless about climate change. They only pay lip service to the environmental crisis in their respective countries. And set target they never intend to achieve.

Many governments obey Pielke's Iron Law: ‘When policies focused on economic growth confront policies focused on emissions reductions, it is economic growth that will win out every time.’ Most world leaders think short-term due to political expediency. They think economic growth has more immediate benefits to reap in than tackling environmental issues. This accentuated the speech of President Nana Akufo Addo of Ghana at COP26 in Glasgow. Reading through his speech, one has clear indication that he prioritizes economic development over environmental concerns.

Yes, it is fair to demand from leaders of advanced countries to honour their side of the bargain since they produce significant share of carbon footprint, almost 76% global emissions. According to him, wealthy nations should be held more accountable for their roles in causing the climate change. President Akufo Addo was onve again on point when he expressed his revulsion of the lukewarm attitude of the world leaders to honour $ 100 billion pledge annually to poor nations to assist in the fight against climate change. Calling for climate justice is good, but doing nothing is never an option.

As a climate activist, I took my time to digest President Nana Addo’s COP26 speech. I was however fretted about the emphasis put on economic growth with very little or no mentioning of concrete steps taken by Ghana to avert the climate crisis. I was more disappointed to read this portion: ‘… for the world to demand that Africa abandons the exploitation of these resources needed to finance her development, and help us to cope better with threats of climate at a time when many countries on the continent have only just discovered them.’ This statement sounds too populist borne out of emotions aimed at producing sound bites.

The reality is that fight against ravages of climate change is a collective responsibility for both advanced and developing economies. Margaret Thatcher had one more time succinctly put it, ‘no generation has a freehold on this earth. All we have is life tenancy with a full repairing lease.’ I dare say that no country has a freehold on the planet.

What leaders of developing countries must bear in mind is that we can "walk and chew gum" at the same time. Nobody is saying developing countries should halt their development agenda and effort. Far from the reality. Climate change throws out new development paradigms and opportunities for economic growth and acceleration. Development can still be done in sustainable manner. Let us be more responsible in our attempts to developed and industrialized. There are new models to achieving sustainable development. However, the current way of exploiting our natural resources in Ghana leaves much to be desired.

Deforestation as a result of Mining, 'galamsey', timber lumbering and sand winning is on the ascendancy. Ghana’s forest cover is being depleted at a faster rate, rivers are being polluted and sea level is rising. Collective effort and national actions must therefore gear towards halting the trend. The recent tree planting exercise spearheaded by Ministry Land and Natural Resources is highly commendable, but not enough to safeguard our collective future. The country’s fight against illegal mining (galamsey) has been shambolic.

Ghana's power generation sector is currently dominated by fossil fuel sources. The very energy sources that are blamed for green house emotions have been heavily relied on in the power sector. The target to increase renewable energy sources by 10% in the energy generation mix has eluded the country. Respective governments have paid little attention to green energy sources that the country has huge potential. The least said about Ghana's transport sector, the better. Its carbon footprint is enormous.

The stakes and expectations are high. Doing nothing is simply not an option. And every country has to brace herself to contribute her quota. The United Nations Climate Change COP26 is our defining moment for the fight for the future. All eyes are you, our world leaders. Concrete actions and decisions must be taken to avert the climate crisis. This is not the time for blame game. It is about time we got real. The effects of climate change are devastating and non-discriminatory. The time to act is now. There is no next time to act. Climate action is now!

Alhaji Mustapha Iddrisu

Energy Policy Analyst/Climate Activist

Takoradi