President Kufuor addresses African ambassadors

..... on climate change

Former President John Agyekum Kufour today (January 13, 2014) briefed African Heads of Missions at the United Nations in New York on the need for a global effort to tackle the menace of climate change which is impacting negatively on human endeavours, irrespective of geographical location, stage of development, race, gender or religion.

“We count on you as representatives of your governments to help raise awareness in your various countries about the real and potential dangers faced by all of us if we continue our lifestyles in the same ways without safeguarding our earth”, he stated.

The briefing was his President Kufour’s first public engagement since the UN Secretary appointed him (President Kufour) and Mr. Jens Stoltenberg last December as UN Special Envoys on Climate Change.

He pointed out that “the disastrous consequences of the change, including high temperatures, melting polar icecaps, rising seas, destruction of coral reefs, hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts, tsunamis, desertification, contamination of rivers and polluted air are not selective. They affect all of mankind”.

Ex-President Kufour, who had just returned from a retreat with the UN Secretary General and experts on the effects of climate change prior to the interaction with the African Ambassadors, noted that indeed climate change had been creeping in on humanity since the 1800s, but it was not until 1989 that the UN adopted various measures to confront the creeping catastrophe.

For example, he said that the last 12 years had been the hottest in recorded history, adding that “scientific indications are conclusive that things are getting worse unless, all of us, collectively take measures to arrest the intensifying carbon dioxide emissions which have been identified as the main cause of the change”. Recounting the daily ravages of the change worldwide, the former Ghanaian leader said in Africa and much of the developing world, desertification is increasing at such a fast rate that whole communities and farmlands will soon be laid bare. “Pollution of once safe water causes through mining and other economic activities have meant that a large number of the people are left without clean water, resulting in ill health with its attendant effects and also dislocation of peoples.

“Island states, are particularly in danger of being washed from the surface of the earth, as they face the brunt of the continued worsening of climatic conditions in rising seas and dying coral reefs”, he said.

Furthermore, President Kufour mentioned that the degrading gas emitters from vehicles and industry in cities all over the world had reinforced the catastrophic effect of the climate change, since the impact is seen in the adverse effects on health, agriculture, water resources, coastal and forest areas and species and their natural habitats.

It was to achieve the UN’s dream of awakening the world to pull together to find solutions backed with ambitious political commitments that he and the Mr. Stoltenberg as UN Envoys on Climate change had been charged to engage heads of State and governments as well as other world leaders and civil society to build understanding and support for increased effort in ensuring a cleaner and safer environment. Apart from working towards the World Climate Summit in September, this year, President Kufour said their aim is to mobilize political will among world leaders to legally agree to limit the world to less than two degrees Celsius rise in global temperatures next year as expected under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).

During the interaction, the Head of Missions stressed the need for the necessary political will to carry out all decisions taken, including making funds available whenever such pledges or promises are made.

The African Ambassadors were not happy that previous promises and pledges made at Copenhagen to help Africa never materialized, noting that even though Africa contributes virtually nothing in the current challenges in the world, it bears the brunt of it, a situation that requires a critical look.

On behalf of the African Ambassadors, Mr. Ken Kanda, Ghana’s Permanent Representative of the UN and current Chair of the African Group assured President Kufour of their support and cooperation to achieve the objectives that he had outlined.

He expressed the hope that if the problem is tackled from the root, very significant results could be achieved in tackling the menace of climate change.