Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has called on Ghana to strengthen its participation in international climate negotiations to secure greater access to global climate financing and support the country’s climate adaptation and resilience efforts.
She said although African countries contributed the least to global greenhouse gas emissions, they continued to bear the greatest burden of climate change, making it imperative for Ghana to remain actively engaged in global climate discussions.
The Vice President made the call during a visit to the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) after receiving a briefing from the Acting Minister, Mr. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, and the Ministry’s management.
She stressed that Ghana must position itself to take advantage of international climate financing opportunities to address the growing impact of climate change.
“Although Africa contributes minimally to global emissions, the continent bears a disproportionate share of the consequences. This underscores the need for Ghana to continue engaging strongly in international climate negotiations while positioning itself to benefit from global climate financing,” she said.
Professor Opoku-Agyemang noted that effective environmental governance required more than the formulation of policies, stressing the importance of implementation, monitoring and evaluation to ensure government interventions produced measurable results.
She also underscored the critical role of science and public education in promoting environmental sustainability, particularly following recent flooding incidents in parts of the country.
According to her, enforcement of environmental laws should be complemented by sustained public education to encourage responsible behaviour and greater compliance.
“Science is universal and affects every aspect of our national development. For that reason, public education is of the utmost importance. Enforcement of laws must be complemented by sustained public education to encourage responsible behaviour and compliance,” she said.
Officials of the Ministry briefed the Vice President on progress made under several initiatives, including the implementation of the Circular Economy Policy on plastics, promotion of green jobs and clean cooking technologies, electronic waste management, climate-smart agricultural research, strengthened environmental regulation and efforts to establish a Ghana Space Agency.
The Ministry, however, identified inadequate funding, shortages of scientific personnel, ageing laboratory infrastructure and the need to strengthen environmental legislation as major challenges affecting its operations.
The Vice President further called for closer collaboration among government institutions to promote local manufacturing, commercialise scientific research, create jobs and advance the government’s industrialisation agenda.
She also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to protecting public lands from encroachment as part of broader efforts to strengthen environmental governance and sustainable development.
