Social media week to focus on Climate Change

This year’s Social Media Week (SMW), a news platform and a worldwide conference, will touch on climate change adaptation, green businesses and innovation.

The theme for this year’s event, “Closer”, would explores the dynamics of social media and how climate change was affecting the lives of individuals globally.

Happening at Accra Mall from September 10 to 14, 2018, the event would highlight the work of Ghanaian entrepreneurs, innovators and researchers who through their inventions were providing solutions to mitigating the adverse effect of climate change.

Mr. Ahuma Adodoadji, Marketing and Communications Director at Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC), speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said issues about climate change were often rare in the public’s daily conversation and that when the subject came up, it was left mostly to policymakers, environmentalists and academics.

Mr. Adodoadji explained that SMW was working in partnership with GCIC, and that, this year’s edition of SMW would include activities such as green tech innovation exhibition, discussion forums, as well as presentations from entrepreneurs in the green space.

The outlined activities, he said, would be crowned with “the Search for the Next GreenGo” and launch of the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre’s Do Better, Go, Green campaign.

The Marketing and Communications Director said the search for the next GreenGo was a call to all green and eco-entrepreneurs to pitch their idea or innovation to a panel of judges and who may stand a chance of winning over $10,000 worth of incubation support from the Ghana climate innovation Centre.

“GreenGo’ -a wordplay on “go green” and “Gringo”- refers to the green heroes of the environment who are saving the natural ecology by offering and providing environmentally sustainable solutions and products to the general populace.

Climate change effects have manifested on the entire globe and particularly on developing countries including Ghana that is relatively vulnerable.

Ghana’s economy relies heavily on climate-sensitive sectors including energy, forestry and especially the agriculture sector posing risk in the area of floods, droughts, rising sea levels- threatening farmers and businesses along the entire value chain leading to loss of livelihood and food insecurity.

To help provide solutions government and other stakeholders, including GCIC had commenced the promotion of technologies and innovations including energy efficiency, water purification, domestic waste management, solar energy and climate-smart agriculture to enable people to take advantage of the available opportunities to ensure food security and stimulate green business.

"Applications can be submitted at: http://smwaccra.com/,” he added.