Planner proposes reorganization of chieftaincy institution for development

A former consultant to the National House of Chiefs and Development Planner, Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, has called on the new chieftaincy and political leadership to adopt a compelling vision to creatively utilize chieftaincy institution as Ghana’s home-grown vehicle for community development.

He says without such an initiative to move chieftaincy from being spectators to active players in development, the constitutional guarantee of chieftaincy would not be sufficient to consolidate chieftaincy and its relevance to Ghana’s development.

“Community development is currently at a crossroads and chieftaincy is potentially the next wave for exploring a home-grown communal development model,” said Mr. Azongo.

He noted that the chieftaincy Development challenge is not about the quest for development-oriented Chiefs, but how to give a strategic development orientation to the entire institution of chieftaincy in community development intermediation.

He has in the process called on the leadership of Chieftaincy from both the Houses of Chiefs and the Chieftaincy Ministry to shift focus from disputes, succession and welfare issues to the fundamental issue of charting a home-grown development expression to the institution as a mass-economic development vehicle.

He says the challenge confronting the Chieftaincy institution and the nation is not so much of chieftaincy disputes, welfare and succession  issues as is currently the pre-occupation of chieftaincy and political leadership, but  charting a definite role for traditional leadership in the current national development process.

The Agbomefia of the Asogli State, Togbe Afede XIV, who was recently elected as the new President of the National House of Chiefs, is seeking to restore the reverence associated with the chieftaincy institution.

President-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo, has also reiterated his interest to involve the chieftaincy institution in his administration’s governance of the country.

Mr. Azongo’s new paper titled “The Chieftaincy Manifesto, Agenda for Development”, is written to awaken chieftaincy and political leadership consciousness on the development importance of chieftaincy and planning and policy related recommendations required to re-organize the institution of chieftaincy along a development path.

“The Chieftaincy Manifesto provides a synoptic view of various development models, and a scholarly verdict of these models in the African development landscape from which lessons could be shopped to shape the chieftaincy development enterprise in Ghana and Africa,” he said. 

He has also charged the public to refrain from questioning the relevance of the Chieftaincy institution in modern times, but rather concentrate on how to make the institution more relevant to socio-economic development.

“There is no fixed world to be uncovered through modernity but a search for a workable system of development that meets the needs of our people and the unborn generation, and not what other jurisdiction defines as modernity for Africa,” he observed. “The fact that chieftaincy is time-tested and community-based means that it is better placed to sustain community development if the institution is given the requisite development orientation”. 

To question the relevance of chieftaincy is tantamount to questioning the relevance of our culture, identity and shared-values as a people, noted the development planner.

He has recommended a Multi-Frontal leadership approach, a division of responsibilities, where the President of the Houses of Chiefs focuses predominantly on charting a development cause for the institution, whilst the Vice-Presidency settles on the traditional role of welfare, disputes and succession.

The same template, he admonished, could be rolled out for the Ministry of Chieftaincy to prioritize policy and planning actions for the development of the chieftaincy institution.

Mr. Azongo has also proposed the adoption of the 1^st Chieftaincy Development Decade (2017-2027) underpinned by its own unique development theme to determine the direction of leadership towards the common development goal.

According to him, the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs should be cast as the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Development to align with the new development trajectory.

This is to position the institution on a common leadership pedestal to redefine commitment towards harnessing the institutional potential of chieftaincy for a common national development goal.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

Global Community Makes Record $75 Billion Commitment to End Extreme Poverty

A coalition of more than 60 donor and borrower governments has agreed to ratchet up the fight against extreme poverty with a record $75 billion commitment for the International Development Association (IDA), the World Banks fund for the poorest countries. 
 

The funding will enable IDA to dramatically scale up development interventions to tackle conflict, fragility and violence, forced displacement, climate change, and gender inequality; and promote governance and institution building, as well as jobs and economic transformation areas of special focus over the next three years. 

These efforts are underpinned by an overarching commitment to invest in growth, resilience and opportunity.

“This is a pivotal step in the movement to end extreme poverty,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said. “The commitments made by our partners, combined with IDAs innovations to crowd in the private sector and raise funds from capital markets, will transform the development trajectory of the world’s poorest countries. We are grateful for our partners trust in IDAs ability to deliver results”.

With this innovative package, the world’s poorest countries especially the most fragile and vulnerable will get the support they need to grow, create opportunities for people, and make themselves more resilient to shocks and crises, said Kyle Peters, World Bank Group Interim Managing Director and Co-Chair of the IDA18 negotiations. IDAs focus on issues like climate change, gender equality and preventing conflict and violence will also contribute to greater stability and progress around the world." 

IDA is active in 39 countries in Africa, where it is the single largest source of donor funds for basic social services. From FY06-16, IDA provided $83 billion in financing for more than 1,000 projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Of this, more than $18 billion was invested in the development of institutions. Nearly $13 billion supported the provision of critical health and social services. In FY16, the World Bank approved $8.7 billion for the region.

Financing during the IDA18 replenishment period, which runs from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2020, is expected to support:  Essential health and nutrition services for up to 400 million people; Access to improved water sources for up to 45 million people; Financial services for 4-6 million people; Safe childbirth for up to 11 million women through provision of skilled health personnel; Training for 9-10 million teachers to benefit 300+ million children; Immunizations for 130-180 million children; Better governance in 30 countries through improved statistical capacity; and an additional 5 GW of renewable energy generation capacity.

To finance this groundbreaking package, IDA is proposing the most radical transformation in its 56-year history. For the first time, IDA is seeking to leverage its equity by blending donor contributions with internal resources and funds raised through debt markets. By blending concessional contributions from donors with its own resources and capital market debt, IDA will significantly increase the financial support it provides to clients.

The innovative financing package offers exceptional value for money, with every $1 in partner contributions generating about $3 in spending authority, said Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank Vice President for Development Finance. It is one of the most concrete and significant proposals to date on the Addis Ababa Action Agendacritical to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

The additional financing will enable IDA to double the resources to address fragility, conflict and violence (more than $14 billion), as well as the root causes of these risks before they escalate, and additional financing for refugees and their host communities ($2 billion). Increased financing will help strengthen IDAs support for crisis preparedness and response, pandemic preparedness, disaster risk management, small states and regional integration. 

Efforts to stimulate private sector development in the most difficult environments, at the core of job creation and economic transformation, will receive a major push in the form of a new $2.5 billion Private Sector Window (PSW). The PSW, being introduced together with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), will help mobilize private capital and scale up private sector development in the poorest countries, particularly in fragile situations.

The funds will also help governments strengthen institutions, mobilize resources needed to deliver services, and promote accountability. A total of 48 countries pledged resources to IDA; additional countries are expected to pledge in the near-term. The World Bank Group is continuing the tradition of contributing its own resources to the fund.

One of the extraordinary things about IDA is that it brings different countries together to help the poorest. In this replenishment in particular, weve really seen that IDA is truly a global coalition, said van Trotsenburg. 

A total of 75 low-income countries are eligible to benefit from the IDA18 financing package.

Paying lip service to agriculture could have negative consequences for Africa, IITA boss

The Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Nteranya Sanginga has warned there are negative consequences if Africa continued to pay lip service to agriculture, and failed to invest in the sector.

He said the neglect of agriculture would cost $110billion in terms of food imports by 2025 to feed Africans up from the current $35bn.

Besides, a failure to invest in agriculture would deprive the continent of necessary jobs and further fuel the spiralling rate of unemployment among the youth on the continent.

Addressing members of the Board of Trustees of IITA and researchers during the 2016 Partnership for Development Week (P4D Week) in Ibadan, Dr Sanginga, acknowledged that though some African governments have come to the realisation that agriculture was one of the ways to save the continent from the mess, most countries were not investing enough in the sector.

“Take for instance, the commitment to invest at least 10 percent of national budgets to agriculture. Not many countries are meeting this goal,” Dr Sanginga said.

He commended the African Development Bank for the new initiative—Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation—to transform agriculture on the continent.

The TAAT program is a new initiative of the AfDB in collaboration with the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) under the Feed Africa Initiative to drive agriculture development on the continent.

Through the TAAT program, the Bank aims to invest more than $800 million to the agricultural sector. The funds would be channelled into upscaling of proven innovations that will improve the fortunes of farmers and address the twin problem of food insecurity and unemployment.

Dr. Sanginga also reiterated IITA’s commitment to supporting African smallholder farmers in the context of agribusiness such that agriculture transcends food for the fork to money in the pocket.

According to him, IITA will continue to respond to the needs of Africa by developing innovations that will provide answers to Africa’s food insecurity. To this end, IITA will be demonstrating its scientific leadership not only in terms of qualitative research in the lab, but also impact in farmers’ fields.

Dr Sanginga who began his second tenure earlier this year said that IITA’s priority for the future would focus on research, capacity development, partnerships, impact at scale, and most importantly delivery.

The director general said IITA’s internal reorganisation had put the Institute in a better position to address the challenges confronting Africa more than ever before.

He called on researchers to redouble their efforts and commitment to the ideas, mission and vision of the Institute which includes lifting 11 million Africans out of poverty, and the reclamation of 7.5 million hectares of degraded land and putting them into sustainable use.

Chair of IITA Board of Trustees, Prof Bruce Coulman commended Dr Sanginga for the efforts in repositioning IITA for the challenges ahead, stressing that the Board was convinced that “IITA is in safe hands.”

He emphasised that IITA would continue to support Africa in achieving the goal of eradicating hunger and poverty in Africa.

The P4D Week is an annual event that brings together more than 200 international researchers working for IITA across the world to review, share experiences and plan for the way forward.

Deputy Director General, Partnership for Delivery, Dr Kenton Dashiell said the P4D week’s emphasises for the year was not just on research but also on delivery at scale.

COP22 – Marrakech Action Proclamation released

Ministers gathered in Morocco for UN climate change talks COP22 have issued the Marrakesh Action Proclamation, a global pledge which reaffirms the commitment of the 196 countries party to the UNFCCC to implement the Paris Agreement.

The Marrakech Action Proclamation reinforces the global will to forge ahead with the necessary and beneficial transition to low-carbon societies and economies.

The speed of real-economy change and the urgency of action are primary messages from the declaration. This reinforces the shift underway towards a new era of implementation and action on climate and sustainable development.

The statement reaffirms that it is in the national interest of every country to accelerate the transition to renewables and build resilience to climate impacts.

Read the full statement below…

MARRAKECH ACTION PROCLAMATION FOR OUR CLIMATE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

We, Heads of State, Government, and Delegations, gathered in Marrakech, on African soil, for the High-Level Segment of the 22^nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 12^th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, and the 1^st Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement, at the gracious invitation of His Majesty the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, issue this proclamation to signal a shift towards a new era of implementation and action on climate and sustainable development.

Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate and we have an urgent duty to respond.

We welcome the Paris Agreement, adopted under the Convention, its rapid entry into force, with its ambitious goals, its inclusive nature and its reflection of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances, and we affirm our commitment to its full implementation.

Indeed, this year, we have seen extraordinary momentum on climate change worldwide, and in many multilateral fora. This momentum is irreversible – it is being driven not only by governments, but by science, business and global action of all types at all levels.

Our task now is to rapidly build on that momentum, together, moving forward purposefully to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to foster adaptation efforts, thereby benefiting and supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals.

We call for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority.

We call for strong solidarity with those countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and underscore the need to support efforts aimed to enhance their adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability.

We call for all Parties to strengthen and support efforts to eradicate poverty, ensure food security and to take stringent action to deal with climate change challenges in agriculture.

We call for urgently raising ambition and strengthening cooperation amongst ourselves to close the gap between current emissions trajectories and the pathway needed to meet the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement.

We call for an increase in the volume, flow and access to finance for climate projects, alongside improved capacity and technology, including from developed to developing countries.

We, the Developed Country Parties, reaffirm our USD $100 billion mobilization goal.

We, unanimously, call for further climate action and support, well in advance of 2020, taking into account the specific needs and special circumstances of developing countries, the least developed countries and those particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.

We, who are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, encourage the ratification of the Doha Amendment.

We, collectively, call on all non-state actors to join us for immediate and ambitious action and mobilization, building on their important achievements, noting the many initiatives and the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action itself, launched in Marrakech.

The transition in our economies required to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement provides a substantial positive opportunity for increased prosperity and sustainable development.

The Marrakech Conference marks an important inflection point in our commitment to bring together the whole international community to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our time.

As we now turn towards implementation and action, we reiterate our resolve to inspire solidarity, hope and opportunity for current and future generations.

End.

Natural disasters force 26million people into poverty

The impact of extreme natural disasters is equivalent to a global $520 billion loss in annual consumption, and forces some 26 million people into poverty each year, a new report from the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) reveals.

"Severe climate shocks threaten to roll back decades of progress against poverty," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. "Storms, floods, and droughts have dire human and economic consequences, with poor people often paying the heaviest price. Building resilience to disasters not only makes economic sense, it is a moral imperative."

The report, ‘Unbreakable: Building the Resilience of the Poor in the Face of Natural Disasters’, warns that the combined human and economic impacts of extreme weather on poverty are far more devastating than previously understood.

In all of the 117 countries studied, the effect on well-being, measured in terms of lost consumption, is found to be larger than asset losses. Because disaster losses disproportionately affect poor people, who have a limited ability to cope with them, the report estimates that impact on well-being in these countries is equivalent to consumption losses of about $520 billion a year. This outstrips all other estimates by as much as 60 per cent.

With the climate summit, COP22, underway, the report’s findings underscore the urgency for climate-smart policies that better protect the most vulnerable. Poor people are typically more exposed to natural hazards, losing more as a share of their wealth and are often unable to draw on support from family, friends, financial systems, or governments.

Meanwhile, leaders in the global drive to protect, restore and sustainably manage forests have announced a series of measures that show concrete progress is being made towards delivering on the Paris climate pledges and global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

More than a dozen initiatives from Africa to Indonesia to South America are demonstrating how climate mitigation and adaptation actions related to forests and agriculture are firmly anchored in the Nationally Determined Contributions of over 120 Parties to the Climate Convention.

The announcement also comes only two years after the New York Declaration on Forests, an ambitious multi-stakeholder commitment to cut deforestation in half by 2020 and striving to end natural forest loss by 2030.

Forest Action Day at the Marrakech Climate Change Conference (COP 22) is part of the Global Climate Action Agenda, an initiative by France and Morocco to boost cooperative action between governments, cities, business, investors and citizens to cut emissions and help vulnerable nations adapt to climate impacts and build their own clean energy, sustainable futures.

“Forests are one of the largest and most cost-effective responses we have to climate change,” said Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), event co-organizer. “Countries, civil society, the private sector and indigenous peoples are working powerfully together to protect forests to limit global warming to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

Healthier forests will not only help combat climate change but also contribute to many other global development goals by providing food, income, fuel and shelter, said René Castro Salazar, Assistant Director-General, Forestry, of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which also co-organized the event.

“The Zero Hunger goal of the SDGs cannot be achieved by 2030 without addressing climate change, and climate change cannot be addressed without managing the world’s forests in a sustainable manner,” he said.

Deforestation and forest degradation currently contribute up to 12 percent of carbon emissions – more than the entire transport sector combined. Yet, by halting deforestation and reducing and reversing forest degradation, forests could contribute significantly to the climate solution in the coming decades.

Trump's election is a disaster to global climate process – 350.org

Following the election of Donald Trump as President-elect of the United States of America, 350.org Executive Director May Boeve issued the following statement:

“Trump’s election is a disaster, but it cannot be the end of the international climate process. We’re not giving up the fight and neither should the international community. Trump will try and slam the brakes on climate action, which means we need to throw all of our weight on the accelerator. In the United States, the climate movement will put everything on the line to protect the progress we’ve made and continue to push for bold action. We need the rest of the world to charge ahead and look beyond the White House to partner with civil society, businesses, and local governments who are still committed to climate action. Our work becomes much harder now, but it’s not impossible, and we refuse to give up hope.”

350.org, which is committed to climate justice, will continue to work in the United States and around the world for the bold climate action that science and justice demand.

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change enters into force as the Marrakech Climate Conference (COP 22) gets underway, where the first Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement will open on 15 November.

In early September, the world’s two largest emitters, China and the United States, joined the Agreement, providing the impetus for other countries to quickly complete their domestic ratification or approval processes.

As news of Donald Trump's victory in the US Presidential Election reached Marrakech, civil society groups gathered at the COP22 United Nations annual climate change talks reacted:

 

"Whilst the election of a climate denier into the White House sends the wrong signal globally. The grassroots movements for climate justice - native american communities, people of color, working people - those that are at this moment defending water rights in Dakota, ending fossil fuel pollution, divesting from the fossil fuel industry, standing with communities who are losing their homes and livelihoods from extreme weather devastation to creating a renewable energy transformation - are the real beating heart of the movement for change. We will redouble our efforts, grow stronger and remain committed to stand with those on the frontline of climate injustice at home and abroad.. In the absence of leadership from our government, the international community must come together redouble their effort to prevent climate disaster," said Jesse Bragg, from Boston-based Corporate Accountability International.    

           

"For communities in the global south, the U.S. citizens' choice to elect Donald Trump seems like a death sentence. Already we are suffering the effects of climate change after years of inaction by rich countries like the U.S., and with an unhinged climate change denier now in the White House, the relatively small progress made is under threat. The international community must not allow itself to be dragged into a race to the bottom. Other developed countries like Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan must increase their pledges for pollution cuts and increase their financial support for our communities," said Wilfred D'Costa from the Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development.

"The Paris Agreement was signed and ratified not by a President, but by the United States itself. One man alone, especially in the twenty-first century, should not strip the globe of the climate progress that it has made and should continue to make. As a matter of international law, and as a matter of human survival, the nations of the world can, must, and will hold the United States to its climate commitments. And it's incumbent upon U.S. communities to unite and push forth progressive climate policies on a state and local level, where federal policy does not reign," said

Jean Su from California-based Center for Biological Diversity.

"As a young woman and first-time voter I will not tolerate Trump's denialism of the action needed for climate justice. Our country must undergo a systemic change and just transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy within my lifetime. The next four years are critical for getting on the right pathway, and the disastrous election of Trump serves as a solemn reminder of the path ahead of us. As young people and as climate justice movements we will be demanding real action on climate for the sake of our brothers and sisters around the world and for all future generations," said Becky Chung from the youth network SustainUS.

"Africa is already burning. The election of Trump is a disaster for our continent. The United States, if it follows through on its new President's rash words about withdrawing from the international climate regime, will become a pariah state in global efforts for climate action. This is a moment where the rest of the world must not waver and must redouble commitments to tackle dangerous climate change," said Geoffrey Kamese from Friends of the Earth Africa.  

The Global Climate 2011-2015: Extreme weather increasingly linked to global warming

The World Meteorological Organization has published a detailed analysis of the global climate 2011-2015 – the hottest five-year period on record – and the increasingly visible human footprint on extreme weather and climate events with dangerous and costly impacts.

The record temperatures were accompanied by rising sea levels and declines in Arctic sea-ice extent, continental glaciers and northern hemisphere snow cover.

All these climate change indicators confirmed the long-term warming trend caused by greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide reached the significant milestone of 400 parts per million in the atmosphere for the first time in 2015, according to the WMO report which was submitted to U.N. climate change conference.

The Global Climate 2011-2015 also examines whether human-induced climate change was directly linked to individual extreme events. Of 79 studies published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society between 2011 and 2014, more than half found that human-induced climate change contributed to the extreme event in question. Some studies found that the probability of extreme heat increased by 10 times or more.

“The Paris Agreement aims at limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2 ° Celsius and pursuing efforts towards 1.5 ° Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This report confirms that the average temperature in 2015 had already reached the 1°C mark. We just had the hottest five-year period on record, with 2015 claiming the title of hottest individual year. Even that record is likely to be beaten in 2016,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

 

“The effects of climate change have been consistently visible on the global scale since the 1980s: rising global temperature, both over land and in the ocean; sea-level rise; and the widespread melting of ice. It has increased the risks of extreme events such as heatwaves, drought, record rainfall and damaging floods,” said Mr Taalas.

The report highlighted some of the high-impact events. These included the East African drought in 2010-2012 which caused an estimated 258,000 excess deaths and the 2013-2015 southern African drought; flooding in South-East Asia in 2011 which killed 800 people and caused more than US$40 billion in economic losses, 2015 heatwaves in India and Pakistan in 2015, which claimed more than 4,100 lives; Hurricane Sandy in 2012 which caused US$67 billion in economic losses in the United States of America, and Typhoon Haiyan which killed 7,800 people in the Philippines in 2013.

The report was submitted to the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The five-year timescale allows a better understanding of multi-year warming trends and extreme events such as prolonged droughts and recurrent heatwaves than an annual report.

WMO will release its provisional assessment of the state of the climate in 2016 on 14 November to inform the climate change negotiations in Marrakech, Morrocco.

Global Climate Risk Index: Africa hit hard by extreme events

Africa is the continent that was hit hardest by extreme weather events in 2015.

According to the 12^th edition of the Global Climate Risk Index, four out of the ten most impacted countries globally are African: Mozambique (Rank 1), Malawi (Rank 3), Ghana and Madagascar (both Rank 8).  

"Especially flooding affected the hosting continent of this year's climate summit", says Germanwatch's Sönke Kreft, main author of the Index.

Heat waves claimed most lives last year – more than 4,300 deaths in India and more than 3,300 deaths in France show that both developing and developed countries are impacted by extraordinary temperatures.

"Increases in heavy precipitation, flooding and heatwaves are to be expected in a warming world," said Kreft.

Ghana's vulnerability to climate change is in large part defined by its exposure to the various impacts with droughts, floods and sea erosion as the main drivers.

The economic, social and infrastructural sectors are negatively impacted. In the northern parts of Ghana, severe drought and flooding have reduced agricultural productivity, loss of property and investments.

In southern Ghana, sea level rise and other extreme weather conditions have led to loss of lives, displaced communities and low economic activities, especially fishing.

People are suffering from lack of protection and insufficient disaster management especially in poor countries, says Kreft.

"The distribution of climatic events is not fair. In our 20 year analysis of weather extremes nine out of the ten most affected countries are developing countries in the 'low' or 'lower-middle' income category. These are mostly countries with very low emissions, which are least responsible for climate change," he observed.

From 1996 to 2015, there were more than 530,000 deaths caused by more than 11,000 extreme weather events, as well as nearly $3.3 trillion – in Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) – in damages.

The Global Climate Risk Index 2017 is published at the outset of this year's climate summit (COP22) in Marrakech, Morocco.

Kreft has noted “The results of the Global Climate Risk Index remind us of the importance to support resilience policy, to mitigate the negative effects of climatic events on people and countries".

The Germanwatch Global Climate Risk Index 2017 is based on the most recent annual dataset from the MunichRe NatCatSERVICE and socio-economic data from the IMF's World Economic Outlook.

The report features both a short-term and long-term component, analyzing countries most affected by hydrological, meteorological and climatologically extreme weather events in the year 2015 and the period of 1996-2015.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

UN calls for strong climate action as Paris Agreement enters into force

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked the entry into force of the Paris Agreement on November 4 with a call for strong action on climate change to realize the potential of the landmark agreement.

Meeting with civil society representatives, the Secretary-General said, “I ask each and every one of you to keep up the fight. Hold governments accountable and press for action.”

“Today we make history in humankind’s efforts to combat climate change,” he said. “Now is the time to strengthen global resolve, do what science demands and seize the opportunity to build a safer, more sustainable world for all.”

Members of civil society, representing a range of organizations working around the world, including in Egypt, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Guatemala, told the Secretary-General that they were committed to carrying on efforts to reduce emissions and to focus on the needs of people.

The Agreement provides that it shall enter into force 30 days after 55 countries, representing 55 percent of global emissions, have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance or accession with the Secretary-General. Those conditions were met on 5 October, triggering today’s entry into force.

There are now 98 parties to the Paris Agreement, with Gabon, Indonesia, Ireland, the Republic of Korea, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Viet Nam among the latest to join.

“At a time of record heat, Member States embraced this new global agreement in record time,” Mr. Ban told civil society leaders at an event marking the Agreement’s entry into force. “It is a credit to all of you. And it is historic for the world.

“Today we celebrate, reflect and give thanks. I am deeply grateful to all of you and your organizations – representing millions of people. At a time when civil society is under attack in so many parts of the world, you have shown that citizens’ groups are essential partners for progress. Your vision, courage, persistence and leadership made this day happen.

“We marched shoulder-to-shoulder in 2014 before the Climate Summit I convened. Millions of others held climate marches around the world. You showed the climate challenge stakes – and the solutions. You mobilized hundreds of millions of people for the cause.”

The Agreement will now enter into force in time for the Marrakech Climate Conference (COP 22) that begins in Morocco on 7 November, where the first Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement will open on 15 November.

Countries have been joining the agreement at a steady pace. There were 15 countries that formally joined the Agreement on 22 April, the day the Agreement opened for signatures, and then 31 countries which joined at a special event at the UN on 21 September during the General Assembly high-level week.

In early September, the world’s two largest emitters, China and the United States, joined the Agreement, providing the impetus for other countries to quickly complete their domestic ratification or approval processes.

The Secretary-General cautioned that time is short while global temperatures continue to rise. 

“We remain in a race against time. But with the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world has the plans we need to make the shift to a low-emission, climate-resilient path. Now is the time to strengthen global resolve, do what science demands and seize the opportunity to build a safer, more sustainable world for all.”

He added, “We are the first generation to really feel the effects of climate change – and the last that can prevent its worst consequences. Today shows us what is possible when we join forces for our common future.”

Prof Adei to go on a ‘one man aluta’ to halt galamsey

Outspoken Ghanaian economist, Professor Stephen Adei, have served notice he will embark on a “one man aluta” to compel the government to, as a matter of urgency, halt the growing phenomenon of illegal mining, popularly referred to as galamsey.

He says his campaign starts from January 7, 2017 when Ghana completes the process of electing a President to steer the affairs of the nation.

“Whoever wins, if they are not going to do anything about galamsey and the level of environmental degradation, you’ll see Stephen Adei on a one man aluta,” he told a gathering in Kumasi.

The 17 thousand illegal miners in the country are causing havoc with impunity “because there are ‘big’ men behind them” who have invested in big machinery for the operations.

There are also fears of an imminent depletion of forest and water resources as the miners employ all kinds of equipment to uproot trees and dig the ground deep in search of gold.

In the Western region, the Upper Wassaw Forest Reserve has hundreds of illegal miners destroying about 12 hectares of the forest reserve; trees have been razed indiscriminately, water bodies destroyed and deep pits left uncovered.

Two water treatment plants in the Ashanti region are currently producing below capacity as illegal miners encroach on lands within the catchment of the Barekese and Owabi dams.

Cocoa industry experts have also warned the spate of illegal mining activities could cutback Ghana’s cocoa production targets if immediate steps are not taken to address the menace.

Cocoa farmers at Keniago and other communities in the Amansie West District of Ashanti are already giving up on farming as illegal mining operations take over fertile lands in the area.

Prof. Stephen Adei therefore wants the menace halted immediately before illegal miners hold the country hostage.

“We have to make life uncomfortable for whoever is responsible… because the level of environmental degradation in Ghana is so much that we risk poisoning the land, animals and human beings,” he stated.

Environmental sustainability has been identified among best practices to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

AGI demands urgent review of Ghana’s Industrial Policy

The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) wants an urgent review of the Ghana Industrial Policy if the document is to live up to the objective of helping to resuscitate the country’s manufacturing sector.

The policy was developed together with the private sector five years ago, in addition to the Industrial Sector Support Programme, which served as an implementation programme.

AGI President, James Asare-Adjei, however says implementation of the policy has been poor, hence the need for the necessary measures and resources to make policy work.

“Industry holds the key to job creation and it is for this reason that AGI is most concerned about the poor growth in the manufacturing sub-sector,” he said at the 56^th Annual General Meeting of the AGI in Kumasi.

Ghana’s manufacturing sector has experienced negative growth rate twice in the past four years. According to the Ghana Statistical Service, industry’s contribution to GDP has declined from 20.8 percent in 2012 to the current 25.3 percent.

Economist, Professor Stephen Adei, who addressed the AGM, noted that running the economy with a generalized policy would not rake in the requisite results especially from the manufacturing sector, hence the need to create an enabling environment for specific industries to thrive.

He also called for the effective management, supervision and accountability of public schools to improve the country’s basic education to serve as the bedrock of qualitative human resource base of industries.

This year’s AGM of AGI was on the theme “Growing Local Industry for Export Development and Job Creation”, which underscored the importance of growing export-oriented businesses to reduce the country’s balance of trade deficit and shore up the local currency.

Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, is confident the takeoff of the Ghana Export Import Bann (Ghana Exim) offers opportunities for Ghanaian exporters to access long term credit guarantees to enhance their operations.

Meanwhile, the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has assured industries of access to litigation-free lands in good location and in the desired sixes for industrial and business parks.

He says the nation’s priority should be targeted to grow industries, “bearing in mind always to protect local industries from foreign predators, among others”.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

Industry wants removal of subsidy on residential consumers of electricity

The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has reiterated calls for the removal of subsidy on residential consumers of electricity being borne by industry.

President of AGI, James Asare-Adjei, says industry is no longer in the position to subsidize residential consumers in the payment of electricity tariffs.

“We need a drastic action on this in order not to disadvantage industry players,” he stated.

Unreliable power supply has been one of the major challenges to businesses in recent times.

Mr. Asare-Adjei acknowledged the significant improvement in energy supply to Ghanaian businesses.

He however said “the improvement in the energy supply has brought in its wake the high and unbearable electricity tariff to industries in particular and businesses in general”.

Residential consumers pay 60 percent of power cost, whilst the government and industry pay the remaining 40 percent.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh