Victoria Michaels getting ready to plant a tree
International model Victoria Michaels has been announced as a champion of the environment as she joins European Union (EU) climate change campaign.
The EU seeks to create awareness on the impact of climate change in the world. This is it meant to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change in the context of sustainable development.
Last year, the EU dedicated the campaign to reducing, reusing and recycling waste. This year, it is campaigning for reforestation, with the slogan ‘re-greening Ghana’.
As part of the campaign, EU Climate Diplomacy Week was launched in Accra on Wednesday, September 25, 2019.
Planting trees, awareness activities at schools, a roundtable discussion on re-greening the city, a workshop on youth and reforestation and a beach clean-up are some of the events that would take place during the week.
Victoria Michaels’ partnership with the EU to re-green Ghana was announced on Wednesday during the launch.
She is not just an international model but also an entrepreneur and a global change activist. She is both the founder of the Victoria Michaels Foundation and the convener of African Literacy Development Initiative (ALDI).
The partnership with EU comes as no surprise to those who follow her social causes.
“Those that are familiar with my work over the last few years will attest to my involvement in so many causes, but this particular one by the European Union is quite an emotional one for me, especially when we have seen the damning effect of climate change across the globe over the last few years,” she said when she spoke at the event.
According to her, her flagship project, ALDI, focuses on promoting literacy development in underserved and deprived first and second cycle schools as well as communities across the continent. It is geared towards reducing the rate of illiteracy in Africa.
“ALDI, being an intervention project, is in alignment with the EU climate protection agenda. We are collaborating with the European Union and other international agencies to create awareness on the importance of preserving our natural space, we hope to use also use the ALDI medium to continue to educate and inform the public on sustainable environmental action,” she added.
She continued, “I want to urge us not to view this session as just another event. Climate change is a big problem; it requires serious and far reaching policies. I hope that by the time this program is over, a lot of awareness would have been made and we get back to the serious work of preserving our environment.
I dream of an era in our country and in the African continent where there will be less talk and more work, especially by politicians.”
“I also hope that we can see a lot more participation from the private sector, it mustn’t always be about the money. Our ecosystems are failing. People are suffering, some are even dying and more will if nothing is done. We need more concrete results in this regard,” she indicated.
By Francis Addo