President Akufo-Addo signing a petition against climate change at the event.
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, addressed the R20 World Summit on Climate Change yesterday in Austria where he revealed government’s decision to integrate a climate action dubbed: “Co-ordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies” (2017-2022) into Ghana’s national development agenda.
According to the President, the Paris Agreement and SDG Goal 13, which call for urgent action to combat climate change and its impact, are providing the framework for Ghana to forge ahead in this direction.
He said at the local level in Ghana, all local assemblies had been mandated to address issues related to climate change in their medium-term development plans, hence his decision to clamp down on illegal mining since he assumed power in January 2017.
He said that a ban has also been imposed on the harvest of Rosewood to protect Ghana’s forest and endangered species.
The President said through the ‘Youth in Afforestation’ programme, over 20,000 youth have been employed to plant 10 million trees across the country as a way of increasing carbon sinks in the country.
President Akufo-Addo reiterated Ghana’s commitment to promoting the deployment of renewable energy in line with government’s policy target of 10% renewables in the energy mix from the current 1%.
Jubilee House, he added, would be powered by solar energy to serve as an example to other public institutions.
The target is to install 200 megawatts of distributed solar power by 2030 in both residential and non-residential facilities and in state agencies.
President Akufo-Addo revealed further that he had engaged a select group of CEOs from the private sector to push forward Ghana’s “Green Agenda” in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The response, the President stressed, has been very positive, with commitments to create a Green Fund to be financed largely by the private sector in place.
The President held bilateral discussions with the President of Hungary János Áder on the sidelines of the summit.
The Hungarian President expressed his appreciation to President Akufo-Addo for extending an invitation to him to visit Ghana in January 2020 and reaffirmed his commitment to deepen the relations between Ghana and Hungary.
President János Áder called for strong collaboration between Ghana and Hungary in the areas of agriculture, water, forestry and energy, citing the considerable experience of Hungary in these sectors.
On his part, President Akufo-Addo thanked the Hungarian leader for re-opening the Embassy of Hungary in Accra, which he said would offer an opportunity to scale up the relations between the two countries.
President Akufo-Addo also met Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva-Kinova, a Bulgarian economic analyst currently serving as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the World Bank.
Describing Ghana as “a success story,” the World Bank CEO disclosed that with $1.6 billion worth of investments in Ghana, the World Bank will continue to work with Ghana, and help develop the country’s capabilities in the areas of energy and human capital development.