A research fellow at the Institute of Green Growth Solutions (IGGS), Dr. Edward Nunoo has said issues of climate change should be of serious concern to all citizens in the country as coping strategy, awareness creation, training and capacity building efforts were still below the required levels for effective engagement with citizens.
He said this at a forum organised by the Institute of Green Growth solutions(IGGS) in Accra.
Among other issues discussed at the forum included discussions of findings of a survey on ” Leveraging Public Participation to build a climate resilient future” Speaking on the findings of the study Dr. Nunoo said that for the country to reduce it’s vulnerability on climate change and ensure long term sustainability, there is the need to integrate policies and put in measures to align it with ongoing sectoral and development planning.
A climate change expert at the Environmental protection Agency (EPA)Dr. Daniel Benfor on his part indicated that changes in whether patterns had a great influence in the fortunes of the country and that majority of business es in the country depended on natural resources while the country derived most of its export earnings from the exploitation of nature.”we depend heavily on nature, our cocoa production which gives the country over one billion dollars to support the economy hinges on the climate”. he noted.
Mr.Burkhardt Hellemann, the Resident country representative of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), also said that even though reportage on climate change tends to publicise and depicts a lot of doom and gloom and uninteresting issues, the media should endeavour to do a lot more by prioritising and educate the public on issues on climate.
The panellists further urged government to find sustainable form of funding to support research on climate change as support from donor agencies are inadequate.
The forum which brought together experts on climate change and environment across the country received funding support from Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
