Mr Richard Adjei-Poku, an Environmental Scientist has entreated Ghanaians to use weather-friendly materials to build houses and other structures to mitigate climate change impact of looming hotter weather conditions. He said the country was likely to experience hotter temperatures and extreme heat by 2030 due to the impact of climate change which nations around the globe could not bear and emphasised the need for the citizenry to plant trees in their surroundings to mitigate the impact of global warming. Mr Adjei-Poku, also the Executive Director of the Livelihood Environment Ghana (LEG), an environmentally inclined non-governmental organisation (NGO) gave the advice when he was speaking at a climate change sensitisation forum in Sunyani. He said households which opted for and used, 'tainted glasses' for their buildings and structures would bear the brunt of climate change of extreme heat and hotter weather condition in the coming years. Empowering Our Immediate Environment with Green Leaves, another NGO with support from the Global Green Grants Fund (GGF) organised the forum to sensitise the students of the Sunyani Seventh Day Adventist Senior High School on climate change, its impact, mitigation, and adaptation measures. Mr Adjei-Poku said everybody ought to support the government's climate change adaptation and mitigation actions, else, it would be extremely difficult for the nation to manage its effects in the coming years. He emphasised tree planting, use of weather-friendly materials in the building industry, recycling of plastic waste and avoidance of bush burning and bad farming practices remained the surest remedy that would well-position the nation to proactively mitigate climate change impact. Mr Adjei-Poku said the rapid depletion of the nation's forest cover was worrying and regretted that the country's forest resources had depleted from 8.3 million hectares in 1957 to 1.3 million hectares now, a degradation of 7 million hectares. He said recurring flooding continued to devastate nations due to climate change, citing that China spent about US$28 billion on flooding in 2020 which killed 267 people, while Bangladesh also spent US$13 billion in 2022 with 118 deaths. Mr Adjei-Poku mentioned bad agriculture practices, industrial smoke emanating from the use of power plants for gold and oil refineries, uncontrolled use of agro-chemicals, illegal mining and lumbering and carbon emissions as the major causes fueling climate change in the country. He, therefore, called for concerted and decisive approach to tackle illegal chainsaw operation and mining in water bodies (alluvial mining), indiscriminate dumping of plastic waste and bush burning to help forestall the wanton destruction of the environment. As future leaders of the nation, Mr Adjei-Poku entreated the students to develop interest in activities on climate change mitigation for their own good, and the good of the nation. Madam Philomena Grace Asare, the founder of the Empowering Our Immediate Environment with Green Leaves said her organisation among other objectives encouraged tree planting in schools and communities.

Source: Ghana News Agency