The European Union Delegation to Ghana has celebrated the Climate Diplomacy Week 2018 Awards Ceremony with students from some selected schools in the Greater Accra Region, in collaboration with Environment360, in Accra.
It was marked with an art competition, organised to aid the students better understand what Climate Change is and how to incorporate the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle in their daily lives.
This was preceded by an art seminar for five private schools in Accra, for three weeks.
The participating schools were; American International School, Ghana International School, British International School, LAS Liberty School and Al Rayan International School.
The competition tasked the students to create art works using 80 per cent recyclable materials and 20 percent non- recyclable materials.
The students were also tasked to create works related to this year’s theme for celebrating Climate Change; “Talanoa Dialogue; inclusive, participatory and transparent.”
Ambassador for the EU Delegation to Ghana, Ms Diana Acconcia, said conserving natural resources was a basic requirement for sustainable development and improving the quality of the human life.
She said the protection of the environment for future generations and efforts to limit the impacts of climate change were of the utmost importance in the world.
“The EU can use its experience to support Ghana in the design and development of appropriate policies,” she said
“The earlier we act, the more resolute we are. The lower the cost; the higher the benefits. The more we will invest in prevention, mitigation and adaptation policies; the less we will pay in future in terms of degradation of our planet and suffering of our population.
She said climate change was affecting agriculture, fisheries, water resource, energy and human health.
Ms Acconcia said the economic consequences of global warming would be higher in the rich countries, like in the European Union, but the richer were better prepared to cope with these costs.
“The human cost of the disasters falls overwhelmingly on the poor countries because they are much more vulnerable, exposed and less prepared to face these disasters,” she said.
She said it had been identified that protecting the environment and fighting against climate change came at the expense of economic growth, and this harmed development perspectives of countries such as Ghana.
“However the EU experience shows that ambitious climate policies can go hand-in-hand with economic growth, job creation, and improved health for people and better protection of the environment,” she said.
She noted that awareness campaigns were crucial to make citizens understand the challenges of climate change and the impact on environment.
“The growing amount of waste produced in modern society has a huge impact on the environment. Many of the materials disposed off in the general waste bin can last in the environment anywhere from hundreds to thousands of years.”
The existence of this waste in the natural environment can cause significant impacts on plants, animals and pollution and by recycling we are helping to reduce biodiversity loss, save valuable space and reduce the amount of pests in our ecosystems.
“You, children present here, will be the adults we are today in 2050. We, all together, will have to cope with the consequences of climate change. We, the adults today, are responsible for the world we will be leaving to you….we have still the possibility to fight together climate change and mitigate its most dangerous consequences.”
Ms. Cordie Aziz, the Executive Director for Environment360, emphasised on how important this competition was, as it empowered the students to better understand what climate change was, where they were now are now and where they wanted to be in future.
After a critical analysis of the Art works by the jury, the American International School emerged winners of competition, with Brianna Odame-Amponsah, Allanah Pearl Sisco and Chialrielle-Chun Villanoeva Wu representing the school. They were assisted by their Art teacher, Mr. Kingsley Otu.
The team, with the team name ‘Asaase Aban’ focused on different races and ages coming together, and making a positive impact on the world’s environment”.
Ghana International School placed second, with the central idea of their project being “the gathering of a community to dialogue about Global Changes through infotainment”.
Participating students were Soraya Hamidu, Kimberly Dedjoe and Magdalene Mensah, with Mr Sulemana Abdul Rauf, an Art Teacher assisting them in creating their project.
Coming third place was British International School with a project- centred on the world having a chat on a mobile phone about Climate Change. The participants were Maleeha Mankulu Ibrahim, Diana Asamoah Boateng and Sadiq Bawa Raheed, assisted by an Art teacher, Mr. Joseph Asare.
LAS Liberty School placed fourth, represented by Ellen Coleman, Tommy Manirakiza and Kaleb Ampromfi. They were assisted by an Art teacher, Grace Abena Sydney.
Al Rayan International School placed fifth with their representatives being Salam Majzoub, Amedeo Zilocchi and Rashida Hassan. They were assisted by an MYP coordinator, Barbra Bilgre.
The art works of the top three schools will be displayed at the EU Delegation Office in Accra.
The Norwegian Ambassador would also host the winners at a private exhibition at the official residence in Accra.
Source: GNA
