KASA Ghana, a lead advocate in natural resources and environmental
governance has organised a debriefing meeting for Civil Society
Organisation on the eighteenth conference on Climate Change held in
Doha, Qatar.
The conference which was held from November 26 to December 7, 2012 was attended by government officials, experts, civil society players from across the globe with a hope of reaching the climate deal the world desperately needed.
Among others, governments were to deliver a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol starting January 1, 2013, increase mitigation commitments, adopt a roadmap that leads to a legally binding global climate deal no later than 2015, commit financially to the Green Climate Fund and set up a framework to protect the world’s forests
Yet at the end of the talks many participants were disappointed as concrete agreements were not reached on the need to increase the speed and scale of international efforts to cut carbon pollution.
During the debriefing in Accra, the representatives of civil society organizations in natural resources and environment discussed issues brought up at the conference, evaluated the international negotiations and looked at how Ghana’s role could be increased in future.
Kyekyeku Yaw Oppong-Boadi, UN Climate Change Focal Point for Ghana and Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection Agency in a brief overview of the outcomes of the COP18 from the perspectives of the government delegation which was led by the Minster of Environment Science and technology noted that Ghana lent its support to the African ministerial team.
He explained that the support was to ensure that the interest of Ghana was reflected in the negotiations.
Mr Oppong-Boadi noted that Ghana expected balance of resources to address Climate Change to feature prominently in order to get adequate funding for projects and mitigation initiatives.
“Climate change is imparting some essential sectors such as Agriculture and we were expecting the advanced countries who are described as the Annex 1 countries to make a commitment on reducing emission of green house gases. Yet, at the end even when we asked for the commitment period to start from five years the developed countries agreed on 8 years,” Mr Oppong-Boadi said.
The Executive Director of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Daniel Amlalo in a speech read on his behalf urged the Civil Society Organizations to identify areas of follow up for actions to be taken for the good of humanity.
“Lots of developing countries think the negotiation did not go as expected,” he said but added that the EPA was ready to collaborate with other institutions to champion the environmental agenda.
He noted that civil society organizations played a critical role in safeguarding and protecting the environment.
The CEO of Friends of the Earth Ghana, George Awudi, who attended the conference, stated that the number of participants over the years has been reducing “and it is perceived that the importance attached to the conference is weaning.”
He attributed it to the domineering perspective of the developed countries: “At the end of the day the decisions taken and the developed countries dominate.”
Mr Duka observed that there was a lack of political will to address climate change especially on matters of green gas emissions, global warming “and we forget that African is most vulnerable.”
“Any impact of Climate Change globally affects Africans, as we are the ones who feel it most and its subsequent implications.”
Programmes Coordinator of KASA-Ghana, Zakaria Yakubu mentioned that there was the need to establish a national level partnership forum on Climate Change.
http://www.dailyguideghana.com/?p=82130
“We need to have a Ghana position ahead of preparations to the Conference of Parties,” he said.
He also urged the CSO to come up with a programme of action on Climate Change and also track the allocation and flow of resources from both the international and national levels.
By Emelia Ennin Abbey
The conference which was held from November 26 to December 7, 2012 was attended by government officials, experts, civil society players from across the globe with a hope of reaching the climate deal the world desperately needed.
Among others, governments were to deliver a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol starting January 1, 2013, increase mitigation commitments, adopt a roadmap that leads to a legally binding global climate deal no later than 2015, commit financially to the Green Climate Fund and set up a framework to protect the world’s forests
Yet at the end of the talks many participants were disappointed as concrete agreements were not reached on the need to increase the speed and scale of international efforts to cut carbon pollution.
During the debriefing in Accra, the representatives of civil society organizations in natural resources and environment discussed issues brought up at the conference, evaluated the international negotiations and looked at how Ghana’s role could be increased in future.
Kyekyeku Yaw Oppong-Boadi, UN Climate Change Focal Point for Ghana and Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection Agency in a brief overview of the outcomes of the COP18 from the perspectives of the government delegation which was led by the Minster of Environment Science and technology noted that Ghana lent its support to the African ministerial team.
He explained that the support was to ensure that the interest of Ghana was reflected in the negotiations.
Mr Oppong-Boadi noted that Ghana expected balance of resources to address Climate Change to feature prominently in order to get adequate funding for projects and mitigation initiatives.
“Climate change is imparting some essential sectors such as Agriculture and we were expecting the advanced countries who are described as the Annex 1 countries to make a commitment on reducing emission of green house gases. Yet, at the end even when we asked for the commitment period to start from five years the developed countries agreed on 8 years,” Mr Oppong-Boadi said.
The Executive Director of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Daniel Amlalo in a speech read on his behalf urged the Civil Society Organizations to identify areas of follow up for actions to be taken for the good of humanity.
“Lots of developing countries think the negotiation did not go as expected,” he said but added that the EPA was ready to collaborate with other institutions to champion the environmental agenda.
He noted that civil society organizations played a critical role in safeguarding and protecting the environment.
The CEO of Friends of the Earth Ghana, George Awudi, who attended the conference, stated that the number of participants over the years has been reducing “and it is perceived that the importance attached to the conference is weaning.”
He attributed it to the domineering perspective of the developed countries: “At the end of the day the decisions taken and the developed countries dominate.”
Mr Duka observed that there was a lack of political will to address climate change especially on matters of green gas emissions, global warming “and we forget that African is most vulnerable.”
“Any impact of Climate Change globally affects Africans, as we are the ones who feel it most and its subsequent implications.”
Programmes Coordinator of KASA-Ghana, Zakaria Yakubu mentioned that there was the need to establish a national level partnership forum on Climate Change.
“We need to have a Ghana position ahead of preparations to the Conference of Parties,” he said.
He also urged the CSO to come up with a programme of action on Climate Change and also track the allocation and flow of resources from both the international and national levels.
By Emelia Ennin Abbey
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