The report that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is leading Ghana’s delegation to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26), which opened in Glasgow, Scotland yesterday is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is leading Ghana’s delegation to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26) which opened in Glasgow, Scotland yesterday.
He will join the World Leaders Summit, a special session of the 12-day event, where presidents and global personalities would speak on how to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
President Akufo-Addo, who left Ghana yesterday, according to a release from the Presidency, would deliver a statement on Ghana’s position on Climate Change, as well as measures put in place to combat the threat it poses.
He would also deliver three separate statements on efforts Ghana is making to protects her forests and ocean, and participate in the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Summit, being held on the sidelines of COP 26.
Whilst in Glasgow, he would hold bilateral meetings with Uhuru Kenyatta; President of Kenya; Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of Norway; Robert Abela, Prime Minister of Malta; Elizabeth Truss, MP, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs; and Raphael Mariano Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The President was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey; the Minister for Energy, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, MP; the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, ; the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor, and officials of the presidency and Foreign Ministry.
The statement said President Akufo-Addo would return to Ghana on Thursday, November 4, 2021, and in his absence, the Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, would, in accordance with Article 60(8) of the Constitution, act in his stead.
The newspaper says that the shift to a circular economy will not only reduce raw material consumption and waste generation, but will also create new business opportunities and open new markets for Ghanaian entrepreneurs.
Ms Abena Osei Asare, a Deputy Minister of Finance, said this year, the Government of Ghana understood that the European Union (EU) Circular Economy Seminar sought to not only create awareness on the need to charge from a linear to a circular economy, but also to identify actions and measures in Ghana to boost the efficient use of resources by moving to a clean, circular economy to mitigate climate change, revert
She said this at the Second Seminar on Circular Economy that the EU was organising in Accra in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.
A circular economy is “a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible” that aims at tackling global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution
The seminar focused on five main sectors, namely, plastics, electronics, agri-food systems, constructions and infrastructure, and policy.
The Deputy Minister said the agenda of the seminar clearly reflected the bond, scope and magnitude of the issues that were pertinent to Ghanaians.
“There can be no doubt that as we work towards addressing some of our imminent environmental and developmental issues, we are also being faced with new emerging challenges.”
She said the seminar provided the opportunity for the participants to share their views, ideas and experience on some of the issues pertaining to sustainable eco-friendly economic development of the country.
The Ghanaian Times also reports that at least eight people have died from what health authorities suspect to be Yellow Fever (YF) disease in the Savannah Region.
The affected persons are nomads from selected communities in the West and North Gonja districts of the region who are alleged to have never been vaccinated against YF.
According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS), it was awaiting final laboratory confirmation as earlier tests for other ViralHaemorrhagic Fevers like Ebola, Lassa, Marburg and Zika, had all proved negative.
“The GHS has received interim laboratory results of an unusual disease from the Savannah Region that has led to the death of eight people.
The disease is presumed to be YF and samples have been shipped for final confirmation,” a statement signed by the Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said.
It asked all persons from that part of the region who have fever, general weakness, headache, nausea and vomiting to immediately report to the nearest health facility.
Meanwhile, a team of experts from Ghana Health Service, Center for Disease Control (CDC) Ghana, World Health Organisation (WHO) Ghana, and Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) have been dispatched to support the region to investigate and institute appropriate control measures.
“We will keep the general public updated following the outcome of the investigations and also on the final laboratory confirmation,” it said.
GIK/APA