AMA boss receives World Climate Clock, calls for urgent climate action

Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) Mohammed Adjei Sowah, has received a World Climate Clock to help bring the message of urgent climate action to others in Africa.

The Clock which depicts the amount of the world’s energy supplied from renewable sources counts down the years, days and seconds that scientists estimate are left to reach net-zero carbon emissions and avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change.

The World Climate Clock was presented to the AMA boss on Thursday, 12 August 2021 by Ghanaian hip life legend and Climate Change Ambassador, Kwame Nsiah-Apau, popularly known as Okyeame Kwame and some Ghanaian youth climate activists in Accra.

The deadline on the clock alerts the world about the critical time window left to take the most meaningful action to combat it whilst the green line which is the lifeline on the clock indicates the percentage of global energy from renewable sources, wind, water, solar, and bioenergy.

Mr Adjei Sowah who is the first Mayor in Africa to receive a climate clock said as part of measures to mitigate the effects of global warming, the AMA had designed and developed a Climate Action Plan (CAP) for the city of Accra with key action points mainstreamed into the Assembly’s activities.

He pointed out that one key intervention being implemented by the Assembly to address the heat being experienced in the city was tree planting.

“We have concrete floors everywhere instead of greening and tree planting, hence tree planting has become a key feature in our administration… Two years ago, we decided to plant 100,000 trees in the city of Accra but due to COVID, we couldn’t achieve our targets… We have stepped up interest in tree planting and now and then people are asking us where to plant trees and because we cannot police every tree, we are asking any human being who plants a tree to be responsible for its growth,” he said.

The AMA boss also noted that emissions from the burning of waste especially at informal settlements and at dumpsites had been a significant source of emissions adding that after an audit of greenhouse emissions in Accra it was discovered that 46 per cent of all emissions of the city of Accra came from waste management.

He disclosed that there was an ongoing climate risk assessment in the city of Accra to determine issues of vulnerability and work towards making Accra a resilient city.

A representative of Solidaridad West Africa, an international network organization, working in over 40 countries to promote sustainable production, inclusivity and agricultural service provider for small and medium enterprises in a remark said because farmers depend on rainfall and the effects of climate change limit rainfall, his outfit decided to help the farmers find alternative ways of producing for income and ensure food security hence the commencement of the Ghana Dedicated Grant Mechanism Project which started in 2017.

Okyeame Kwame said climate change if left unchecked could wreak havoc on the livelihoods of poor farmers as it alters rainfall patterns and affects crop yields bemoaning the current rate of deforestation and forest degradation in the country.

At the event, the AMA boss who represents African Mayors as Vice-Chair on the Steering Committee of C40 Cities; an international Climate Leadership Group and serves on the Board of the Global Covenant of Mayors on Climate and Energy representing African Mayors was named the “Chief Patron” of the Climate Clock in Ghana, to help bring the message of urgent climate action to other mayors across Africa.

As part of the event, the AMA boss, Okyeame Kwame as well as other dignitaries planted trees at the open space directly opposite the Accra City Hotel.