The 2015 world-wide national consultation and stakeholder debate on climate change and energy has been held in Ghana to collect divergent views on how to mitigate climate change impact and adaptation.
The debate was held to collect views from a number of citizens on the causes of climate change and how the negative effects could be reduced.
Mr Joseph Senyo Kwashie, the Executive Director of Community AID Foundation, co-organizers of the event in Ghana, said 150 people were selected nationwide to represent the 10 regions.
The event, which was held in Accra, saw 150 people selected from different backgrounds, including traders, students, farmers, traditional leaders, politicians, teachers and health workers.
The theme for the debate was: “Contributing to the national effort by reaching out to community people in Ghana on climate change and energy.”
Mr Kwashie said the theme was very appropriate and timely, since it would help educate the public, especially at a time when the country had suffered severe floods and disastrous moments.
Mr Jack James Dolson, Director of the Association of People with Practical Education (APPLE), a non-governmental organization, said the ideas and comments gathered at the event would be discussed by leaders of each of the 150 countries at the upcoming Conference of Parties (COP21) to be held on 7th and 8th of December in Paris.
Mr Dolson told the participants that the intensity of the data gathered from the debate would determine how useful and considerable their thoughts would be for the purposes of the meeting.
He said issues of climate change were becoming rampant, due to natural occurrences and attitude of citizens towards the environment, leading to fire outbreaks, droughts, crops failure, and torrential rainfall.
Mr Pierre Kervannel, an Environmental Officer of the French Embassy in Ghana, said some activities such as high doses of Carbon dioxide emission released into the atmosphere daily by the European countries impact negatively on countries in Africa.
“This has been the major contributing factor to the impact of climate change on African countries including Ghana which is hard hit by flood, fire disasters, challenges in farming and others”, he said.
Mr Kervannel explained that COP21 would bring together governments of over 75 countries across the world, including investors, businessmen, non-governmental organisations, and civil society groups to discuss and sign agreement on how to control carbon dioxide emissions across the world in order to reduce its impact on climate change.
Source: GNA
