National Climate Change Contest for Schools launched

The European Union in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a drawing contest, as a prelude to discussions on climate change.

The aim of the project is to set up a climate change awareness outreach to build a coalition ahead of the Conference of Parties (COP 21) to be held in Paris from November 30 to December 11.

Mr Paolo Salvia, Head of Political, Press and Communication Section of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Ghana, said the contest which formed part of activities marking the European Year for Development 2015; was on the theme “Seed for Change - Plant your idea to deal with climate change in Ghana”.

Mr Salvia noted that climate change was undoubtedly a difficult challenge but could also be seen as an opportunity to think and make decisions.

The EU expects that in the schools involved throughout Ghana, the Contest will represent an opportunity to discover something more about the situation, think about possible solutions and express brilliant ideas that can have an impact at home or even the global level.

Mr Mahama Ayariga, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), in an address read on his behalf by Mr Fredua Agyemang, Director of Environment ( MESTI), said the Ministry had facilitated the development of a National Low Carbon Development Strategy, which were all in line with the climate change transformational agenda.

Mr Ayariga said with just less than 100 days to the 21st Conference of Parties in Paris, Ghana’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) had been completed and that MESTI had submitted a development plan to cabinet for endorsement.

It is a 10 year development plan that reveals Ghana’s commitment towards achieving the global target of less than two degree Celsius of temperature.

He stated that on Ghana’s Day in Paris, the Master Plan of climate change and the National Climate Change Learning Strategy would be launched by the President as a national effort to put the country on a track towards a low-carbon and climate-resilient future.

The Minister expressed gratitude to partners of the project such as the EU, French and Norwegian Embassies, Creative Storm, the EPA and the Ghana Education Service especially the Basic, Secondary and the Curriculum Divisions and urged them to collaborate with MESTI and EPA to conduct the informal sessions at the regional and district offices.

Mrs Cynthia Bosomtwi-Sam, Director of Curriculum, Research and Development Division, GES, said climate change affected every facet of life, therefore, there was the need for efforts to control its negative impact.

Mrs Bosomtwi-Sam noted that as part of the competition, an implementation model had been included by the EU to enhance the understanding of climate change among educational institutions, and expressed the hope that the initiative would raise the awareness among students and the larger population.

As part of its contributions towards the project, Mr Pierre Kervennal, Deputy Head of Cooperation, Embassy of France, presented a cheque for GH? 24,000.00 towards the project, which was received by Mr Daniel Amlalo, the Executive Director of EPA, who launched the Drawing Contest.

Schools will have the opportunity to enter the competition in three categories; Primary school- Observation, Junior High School-Impact, and Senior High school- Solutions, where selected drawings will be printed out and distributed during the side event of the ‘Ghana Day’ in Paris.