The realities of climate change cannot be ignored - Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said the realities of climate change has become impossible to ignore as there were scientific and mathematical truths that do not change with space or time and must be upheld.

President Akufo-Addo who said this when he addressed the 74th United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York called on world leaders to commit to practical steps to countering the degradation of planet earth.

The 74th General Assembly’s is on the theme: gathering was “Galvanising multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion.”

President Akufo Addo said scientists had spoken on the realities of climate change and he believed it was time the world directed their energies to counteract the dangers.

He conceded that human activity was probably pushing the world to destruction, stressing that “it is time to take action to bring back our world from the precipice.”

President Akufo-Addo also reiterated the expectations of African leaders in combatting poverty and described it as a burden that “robs us of the dignity that should be the inherent right of every human being.”

He called for consensus from world leaders to accept that “poverty anywhere degrades us all whether in the developed or developing world.

“We know that our performance as governments will be judged by how successful we are in reducing and eventually eradicating poverty in our countries.

“The responsibility is ours as individual sovereign countries not only to aim at reducing poverty but, actually, to create prosperity for all our citizens. We, in Ghana, certainly are engaged in fighting to eradicate poverty from our country.”

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres last week organised a one-day summit to reiterate the alarming threat of climate change.

Youth activist last week also led a global climate strike.

Scientists ahead of the meeting warned the signs and impacts of global warming were worsening.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), for example, noted that the amount of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere between 2015 and 2019 had grown by 20% compared with the previous five years.