Members of the 9th Parliament ( MP) have called on government and actors in the political divide to make issues related to Climate Change one of urgency and take decisive actions on them.
Speaking as part of proceedings of the 2nd Sitting of the 1st meeting of the 1st session of the 9th Parliament, a cross section of members raised these concerns while making statements to congratulate their former colleague MP for Oforikrom Constituency, Dr. Emmanuel Marfo.
This comes after his elevation to director of the West and Central Africa Regions for the Climate Parliament.
Speaking on the matter, members reiterated how climate change affects all and sundry and is a draw-back on Ghana’s development.
Hon. Ntim Fordjour, MP for Assin South highlighted the need to inculcate climate change education in students from an early stage. While at it, he also talked about how the effects of climate change stalls educational progress in the country.
“Considering the wide-range effects of Climate Change; from biodiversity loss to extreme temperatures and in particular displacement, it is important to also have champions of climate change particularly in all schools…Because Mr. Speaker, whenever there is climate induced disasters, education is the hardest hit. School going children are the hardest hit. When there is flood and disruptions occur, many children will have to stay out of school for days if not for weeks or months. And therefore, the effects and the contributions that even the younger generation could adopt climate resilient practices is so important that at this early stage, they become familiar and young champions” he said.
Taking his turn to speak, Member of Parliament for the Takoradi Constituency, Mr. Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah called for the need to situate climate research and development in the Ghanaian context.
“It is therefore my wish and hope that as he steps foot into the world of work with the West and Central Africa Program of Climate Parliament, key issues like local ownership of the ideas of climate action; key issue of the ideas of climate finance; will get to the bottom and the grassroots of our people. So that we will own it instead of just being a policy at the top without going down. And we keep talking about them year-in-year-out without the real actions on the ground.”
“Mr. Speaker, I also do believe that all the books and textbooks and all the projects and the thesis we’ve written in the universities; they should be local solutions and local technologies to solve a lot of these problems. If we are able to get this ownership and the local solutions together at the local level, Mr. Speaker, I do believe that we will be solving more of our problems than always looking after the effects instead of looking after the pre-effects of a lot of the things that we talk about in this country” he said.
Mr. Darko-Mensah who was also a member of the Dr. Marfo-led Climate Caucus in the 8th Parliament touted the lengths Dr. Marfo’s work has gone to help Ghana.
“As a student of sustainable development an d a biochemist, I have always believed in saving the planet and always believed that the sort of thing that Dr. Marfo did in supporting Ghana our thinking about climate action, climate urgency, climate finance and the energy transition, including resilience, were key components of keeping our country and its biodiversity up to this day” he stated.
Adding her voice, MP for Atiwa West, Hon. Laurette Korkor Asante called for the prioritization of climate issues in the country.
“This should also remind us as a house to prioritize climate issues to help prevent the destruction of livelihood in the near future. Mr. Speaker, we wish him all the best and we say Ayekoo. Thank you” she stated.
On his part, Hon. Yao Gomado MP for Akan Constituency, brought back the long-standing debate of protecting some members of the house for their experience and knowledge on technical matters. According to him, as much as this appointment is good for Ghana, it could be beneficial to developed countries. He also stressed on the need to prioritize funding of climate-related programs while hinting what could be the circumstances behind Dr. Marfo’s decision not to run in the just-ended parliamentary elections.
“My worry is that today, issues of climate and climate change and climate funding is so green. We need people with such expertise to guide policy and to help in unlocking the various funds to support in mitigating the effects of climate change in this country. Unfortunately Mr. Speaker, I know for a fact that my colleague Marfo, did not just decide not to contest but circumstances led him to bow out. Mr. Speaker, this will go to all of us; is indeed we recognize the potential, the expertise of colleagues, we need to find a way at least, to protect such people”
“Dr. Marfo is young, and he has more years ahead and I believe that if the NPP party had protected him and given him that opportunity, he would have helped a lot in shaping policy insofar as climate issues are concerned in the house. Unfortunately, we lost him. Today another opportunity has been given to him and I shudder to think that the influence would be directed towards developed countries than Ghana. And we may not benefit too much from his exploits like when he remains in parliament” he stated.
Dr. Emmanuel Marfo’s elevation to the position of Director of Climate Change for the West and Central African Regions of Global Parliament has been touted as a good show of issues related to parliamentary retirement in Ghana and a testament of his good works.
