The Minister of State for Climate Change and Sustainability, Seidu Issifu, has called for stronger local-level action to tackle the growing impacts of climate change, and announced government plans to establish dedicated Climate Change Units (CCUs) in all Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) across Ghana.
Speaking at the Sub-National Stakeholder engagement on Climate Change and Sustainability in Wa on July 21, the Minister said climate change is felt most acutely within communities, making local governments central to Ghana’s climate resilience agenda.
Frank Aggrey, the Director of Administration & Climate Finance at the Ministry, who read the speech on behalf of the sector minister, said the Ministry was established to bridge the gaps by coordinating climate action, mobilising climate finance, and supporting Ghana’s commitment to its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
To strengthen climate governance, the Minister announced that his office has established an Inter-Ministerial and Agency Technical Working Group to coordinate national climate interventions while plans are underway to establish a Climate Change and Sustainability Hub to serve as the country’s focal point for climate solutions.
He said the proposed Climate Change Units within the MMDAs would provide technical support to integrate climate action into Medium-Term Development Plans, strengthen institutional and financial capacity, build partnerships with international organisations and assist assemblies in developing climate-resilient, investment-ready projects.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Charles Lwanga Puozing, whose speech was delivered on his behalf by the Regional Development Planning Officer, Nii Adjaye Laryea, described climate change as one of the greatest development challenges facing the world today.
He said the effects of climate change are already being experienced across the Upper West Region through erratic rainfall, declining agricultural productivity, water shortages, biodiversity loss, floods and prolonged droughts.
The Regional Minister said the proposed Climate Change and Sustainability Hubs and dedicated Climate Change units would improve climate planning, strengthen institutional coordination, facilitate access to climate finance and enable assemblies to develop bankable projects capable of attracting investment.
The day’s stakeholder engagement was attended by Municipal and District Chief Executives, planning officers, coordinating directors, among others across the Upper West Region.
