Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, has called for the ‘meaningful participation’ of the youth in the formulation and implementation of climate change policies at the national, regional and district levels. The Speaker said young people were ‘positive agents of change’ and could be positioned to lead climate action. Mr Bagbin made the call in a speech read on his behalf at the 2023 Local Conference of Youth on Climate Change held at the University of Ghana, Legon on Wednesday. The speech was read by Mr Yves Hanson-Nortey, Member of Parliament for Tema Central and Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment. The Conference assembled youth groups and young individuals who are actively involved in the issues of climate change to discuss the role of young people in mitigating the climate crisis. The National Youth Climate Action Plan was also launched at the event to guide and empower the youth in addressing critical challenges posed by climate change. Mr Bagbin said young people should not just be advocates of climate change but should be directly involved in formulating ideas and innovations that would help address the problem. ‘…there is the need to promote meaningful youth engagement in agenda setting and policy development that introduce fresh ideas and innovative solutions to tackle the climate crisis. ‘By so doing, it will increase the participation of the youth in the policy formulation and implementation of climate change policies at the national, regional and district levels,’ he said. The Speaker added there was a need to bring together multi-sector stakeholders to co-create solutions to bridge capacity gaps, highlight opportunities and showcase youth-led climate adaptation and mitigation measures. Mr Pius Enam Hadzide, the Chief Executive Officer, National Youth Authority, advocated the allocation of funds to support young people with innovative solutions to address or mitigate the impact of climate change. ‘The young people are encouraged to work with the Authority in terms of projects and approval of budgets, grants so that they can do their work,’ he said. Mr Fiachra McAsey, Deputy Country Representative, UNICEF-Ghana, said the climate crisis could not be addressed without youth participation and called for an increment in investments for youth climate support in Ghana.
Source: Ghana News Agency