Participants at the summit
A summit commemorating the 10th anniversary of the June 3rd disaster in Accra has highlighted the need to increase youth engagement to tackle climate change.
Themed, “June 3rd, A Stern Reminder of Climate Inaction”, the event was organised by the Youth Climate Advocates.
It was aimed at increasing enthusiasm amongst young people to tackle climate change.
The Jun 3rd disaster, where over 150 people died in an explosion at the Kwame Nkrumah interchange fuel station, has largely been blamed on poor urban drainage that exacerbated the risk of a fuel leak caused by torrential rain.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) said it is enforcing decongestion to enable proper waste disposal, rolling out green infrastructure under the Mayor’s Special Green Initiative, and strengthening waste and sanitation policies to prevent the disaster from occurring again.
In addition to the summit, a city-wide clean-up was held, involving desilting choked gutters and removing plastic waste around the city.
The summit is part of a phase II rollout in Accra of the Youth Climate Action Fund (YCAF), a global initiative aimed at empowering younger people (15-24) to take meaningful action against climate change.
The AMA said the phase II of the initiative will involve an increase in community-driven climate solutions – thanks to Bloomberg Philanthropies and key international partners, an extra $100,000 has been provided for phase II.
Mayor of Accra, Michal Kpakpo Allotey, directly addressed the youth at the summit, saying “you are not just the leaders of tomorrow – you are the change-makers of today. Your generation understands the urgency of the climate crisis more than any other.”
This sentiment was echoed by Presiding Member of the AMA, Musah Ziyad, who said in an interview that the issue isn’t policy but “a lack of compliance”, which is “why we’re involving the youth, to build a culture of environmental responsibility from the ground up”
These calls for action come after Adigao Alvin Wenia (an undergraduate student) became the youngest Ghanian climate negotiator at COP 29, who is stoutly focused on the engagement of younger generations in securing climate justice for Ghana.
By James Reinhardt