Some persons planting trees as part of the Green Ghana Initiative
Climate-related migrants might rise between 200 million and more than one billion by the middle of the century if world leaders failed to take drastic action to stabilise the global climate system.
Consequently, Africa would bear the brunt, as major crops on the continent, such as maize, millet, and sorghum are highly sensitive to changes in temperature.
This will
Read full articleresult in crop losses and hunger, thereby exacerbating childhood malnutrition and stunting.
Ghana's situation
Clearly in Ghana, extreme temperature increases are creating complicated interactions for water supply, food security, ecosystems, public health, and the economy.
Erratic rains and unpredictable weather patterns married with drying up of major water and river sources require concerted and broader action from civil society actors and climate campaigners to save the nation.
Climate change in Ghana is projected to affect its vital water resources, energy supplies, crop production, and food security.
Major causes
Human activity includes; pollution arising from industrial activities, farming, environmental degradation, and others such as volcanic eruptions to mention a few.
But, annual bush and wildfires pose a serious threat to Ghana’s climate condition.
In addition, certain human activities have been identified as primary causes of the ongoing climate change, often referred to as global warming, a condition that negatively affects climatic conditions.
Societal effects of climate change are already felt, as evidenced in the health, livelihoods, food productivity, and water availability.
A sharp change in the rainfall pattern, drying up of rivers, and receding of water bodies are some of the effects of climate change in cocoa-growing communities in the country.
The country’s vulnerability is largely due to dependence on the production of crops that are sensitive to climate change, including; cassava and cocoa, and by a lack of agricultural diversification.
Currently, the nation is experiencing the drastic effect of climate change with its greenhouse gas emissions more than 50 percent higher than in the 1990s.
Green Ghana Initiative
But, thanks to the government for the prompt response towards mitigating climate change impact and the attendant long-term effects on the nation.
In 2021 government through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources launched the Green Ghana project, as part of activities to mark this year’s International Day of Forest.
Under the initiative, which took place on June 11, 2021, approximately 10 million trees were planted nationwide, exceeding the expected national planting target of five million trees.
Thanks to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for launching the 2022 Edition of the initiative on March 1, a laudable move towards stepping up efforts to reduce deforestation and restore degraded landscape across the country.
The project is an ambitious afforestation drive to plant some 20 million trees nationwide this year, as part of wider efforts to restore lost forest cover and to join the global climate change fight.
Interestingly, half of this year's target of 20 million trees seedlings will be planted within degraded forest reserves across the country.
Tree seedlings to be planted include native timber species, shade trees, multipurpose leguminous, ornamental, and fruit trees.
President Akufo-Addo said the forest was a major resource required for the socio-economic development of the country and “we must make concerted efforts to protect our forest for the benefit of current and future generations.”
However, the President regretted the rampant exploitation of forest reserves across the world and called for rigorous coordinated efforts to protect the forest for posterity.
The rationale for the tree planting exercise remains a strategy to push aggressive afforestation and to restore the nation’s forest cover and a greener environment.
But, the big question is who nurtures the trees.
In fact, nurturing the trees requires more broad-based support as the laudable initiative remains a realistic climate action mitigation intervention.
This is because it would go a long way to tackling the uncontrolled degradation of Ghana’s forests and ecosystem.
Regrettably, with just eight years for the nation to achieve the set goals the Sustainable Development Goals, climate change continues to derail efforts by impacting the fundamentals required to achieve the Goals
No poverty, zero hunger, good health, gender equality, clean water, affordable and clean energy, reduced inequalities, responsible consumption and production, Life on land, and life below water, are all being negatively impacted by climate change.
Indeed, a greener future is necessary for the survival of the planet, and all must support the nurturing of the trees.
Ghana’s Susceptibility to climate change
According to Professor Berchie Asiedu, the Director of the Centre for Climate Change and Gender Studies of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), Ghana’s susceptibility to climate change was assuming disturbing proportions.
Though the nation’s greenhouse emission of 0.07 per cent remained insignificant, the impact of climate change was being felt in parts of the country.
Ghana’s greenhouse per capita emission ranked 151 out of 186 countries, according to the 2016 ND-GAIN index of the Netherlands, but the country's climate change vulnerability remained disturbing.
Prof Asiedu said it was the responsibility of every Ghanaian to contribute to climate change mitigation measures to save the nation.
Effects
Currently, there is desertification in the Northern Region, prolonged dry season in the Volta Basin, and perennial water challenges in parts of the country.
Some parts of the country were currently experiencing recurring flooding, prolonged drought, and dry season as well as unpredicted rainfall and weather patterns and acute water challenges.
Certainly, this has huge devastating effects on the nation in the long term.
Way forward
So, it is imperative for Ghanaians to support the government to sustain the Green Ghana initiative while engaging the teeming unemployed youth to nurture the trees.
Local communities, including professional, religious and cooperative associations, should prioritize afforestation and reforestation as climate change mitigation actions at the local level and that should be all-inclusive.
According to Dr. Michael Addaney, a lecturer at the School of Geoscience, UENR climate change remained a global challenge that required coordinated global and national action.
“A just and fairer playing field for developing countries and highly vulnerable groups such as women and girls in poor regions, including Africa, is a key to create durable solutions and climate benefits,” he said.
Undoubtedly, climate change threatens the attainment of sustainable development as it resulted in more erratic flooding and drought, shifting of rainfall patterns and their decreasing predictability, increased natural disasters, biodiversity destruction, and spread of diseases, resulting from warming temperatures on land and sea.
Given the size of the climate challenge, its impacts exacerbate existing inequalities, poverty, conflicts, and migrations with a disproportionate effect on low-income countries, local communities, indigenous peoples, marginalized and vulnerable groups, particularly those on the African continent.
Dr. Addaney emphasized the need for significant budgetary commitment and other required resources into research initiatives and climate-smart and sustainable innovations and businesses.
There is also an urgent need for the government and its partners to provide farmers, especially in rural areas with financial support, capacity building, and training in organic, regenerative, and climate-resilient techniques.
This time the government must push local and multinational industries and academic institutions to adopt green energy technologies, ranging from wind and solar to hydroelectric, tidal and geothermal and biomass to mitigate the threatening effects of climate change.
As a nation, we must invest in and promote sustainable packaging technology, which minimizes the use of plastic and other polluting materials as much as possible.
It is also imperative to standardize packaging so that it can be reused and recycled efficiently based on, but not limited to, carbon intensity, water consumption, and packaging and food origin for large supply chain actors.
