UK lauds Ghana's proposed Ministerial Council on Environment

Accra, April 1, GNA - The UK Government has lauded Ghana's proposed Inter-Ministerial Council on Environment, saying such a move would further increase the country's competitive urge in accessing international assistance to fight climate change. UK High Commissioner to Ghana, Nicholas Westcott who said in Accra on Wednesday, noted that by that, Ghana stood a greater position in Africa to champion the fight of climate change and create a louder voice for the continent at the international level.

This reaction followed the announcement by Ms Sherry Ayittey, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) during a courtesy call on her that the government was going to set up the Council to be chaired by the Vice President of the land.

The Minister said the idea is to create a platform to harmonise all the policies and decisions of the various ministries on the environment and devise a comprehensive programme to minimize the challenges facing the environment and its sustainability. Ms Ayittey said the draft proposal on the Council would soon be laid before Cabinet for approval adding that all issues relating to environment would be handled by the Council. She said the just ended climate meeting in Accra for the ECOWAS sub-region and Central Africa, was a step in the direction to harmonised policies on the environment with the objective of endorsing the Abidjan Protocol on Environment.

In addition she said another meeting would be held later in April in Nairobi, Kenya, where African countries would discuss the agenda for the upcoming United Nations Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change scheduled for December this year.

On electronic waste, Ms Ayittey said government through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other relevant bodies was working on a new regulation that would address the increasing spate of dumping of electronic products into the country.

She added that vehicular pollution would also be checked as well. Mr Robin Gwynn, UK Climate Security Envoy for Vulnerable Countries, who accompanied the UK High Commissioner, urged Ghana to lead the African course with collaboration from countries that had been affected by climate change to share their stories at the December UN Copenhagen Conference.

He said affected countries must be willing to share their experiences of the impact of climate change so as to let the developed world know and also generate the needed pressure on them to act.