Thursday, 7 November 2019

A church without the Holy Spirit has no sense of direction – Prophet David Kankam Beditor

Prophet David Kankam Beditor
The Ashaiman Area Head of the Church of Pentecost, Prophet David Kankam Beditor, has admonished congregants in the Ashaiman Area to have confidence in the ability of the Holy Spirit to direct their path to wealth and safety.
Speaking at the Area Week-3 programme on Wednesday morning at the James McKeown Temple on the theme, “coming with the Holy Ghost fire,” Prophet Beditor likened the Holy Ghost to the attributes of fire and implied that as the smoke from a fire gives a sense of direction to a wanderer in the forest to ran to safety, so does the Holy Spirit directs and guides the path of the believer to their ordained destination.
He explained, “when someone is lost in the forest, the smoke from a fire shows the person exactly where people are. It is the same way the Holy spirit shows the church direction...in our business and living …a church without the Holy Spirit has no sense of direction…it is the Holy Ghost that puts the church in auto pilot. It directs the church by himself in difficult times.”
Prophet however cautioned that the initial stages of the Holy Ghost baptism may not be entirely gloomy, “but when you get to the level of the Holy Spirit, you become stable…the church does not struggle to take control of difficult situation.” he added
Furtherance to that, he expressed the point that one cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit and continues to experience hardship or misfortune because the power of the fire resident in them is able to melt away all difficult situations and also cause them to do exploit.
He continued to explain that the presence of the Holy Spirit puts to flight all alien armies from the life of the receiver. Therefore what is expected of the Christian is to continue to flame into fire the Holy Spirit in order to light their path.
Also speaking at the evening session of the programme was the District Pastor of New Moneomanye District, Pastor David Dorsu who took turns to describe the three dimensions of the Holy Spirit, “God the father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.”
He indicated that the presences of the Holy Spirit renews all aspects of the believers’ life and leaves no traces of iniquities. “If the Spirit of God dwells in us, all iniquities are gone. We no longer live for ourselves.” he said
Pastor Dorsu reassured the congregants that the presences of the Holy Spirit would ensure that they do not struggle and that every declaration that proceeds from their mouth shall be establish by God.
About the Area Week
The Area Week is a period where the congregants of a number of Districts located within geographically determined boundaries of the church meet for prayers and teachings for a period of one week. The Area Week-3 is therefore the third gathering of all 15 Districts located within the boundaries of Adeji Kojo, Kantmanso, Afienya, Ashaiman, and Sackey in the year. The programme brought together about 1400 congregants including Pastors, Retired Pastors and Apostles across the Area. The weeklong programme which began on Monday 4 November would end on Friday 8 November, 2019.
First Published/Citinewsroom.com

Wednesday, 22 May 2019

Ghana Celebrates International Biodiversity Day in Accra

Ghana Celebrates International Biodiversity Day in Accra
A cross section of participants
To collectively address biodiversity loss for sustainable development, Ghana joins the international community to mark the 2019 International Day for Biological Diversity in Accra under the local theme; “Promoting our indigenous Foods and Medicines; A Catalyst for Achieving the Ghana beyond Aid Agenda.”
Stemming from the international theme, “Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health,” the local theme was adopted to promote the consumption of our indigenous foods and medicines within the parameters of sustainable development agenda, and in line with our national development priorities as well as to leverage knowledge and spread awareness of the dependency of our food systems, nutrition, and health on biodiversity and healthy ecosystems.

Minster for Environment, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng Delivering Keynote Speech at the International Biodiversity Day celebration in Accra
Hon. Minister for Environment, Prof.Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng
Speaking at the event, the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng admits that sustainable development cannot be achieved with our dependency on the rich and indigenous foods and medicines.
Therefore as the country aspires to be a country beyond aid, there is the need for an integrated system to embrace the consumption of indigenous foods. 

This he adds can only be achieved by conserving the lands and water for food production, safeguarding and restoring our agricultural landscape and seascapes, implementing measures that support the production and consumption of healthy foods rich in vitamins and minerals, well as supporting traditional foods, culture and knowledge.
The Minister further indicates that the decline and loss of agro-biodiversity and also essential knowledge of traditional medicine and local food has direct link to disease or health risk factors such as diabetes, obesity, malnutrition, and has a direct impact on the availability of traditional medicines.
The moderator, Samuel Dotse who also happens to be the CEO of HATOF Foundation was of the view that healthy biodiversity is not a luxury- it is the foundation of all life on earth.

It is therefore important for the country to see biodiversity as the foundation for our food and health and a key catalyst to transforming food systems and improving human health - anything short of this, the very survival of humankind will be threatened.

Ghana Celebrates International Biodiversity Day
Expert Panel
The event created the platform for experts to discuss existing policies, strategies, plans and other innovative approaches being adopted to promote the production & consumption of our indigenous foods and medicines , and exchanged knowledge on how to encourage citizens to embrace the grow, eat, and wear Ghana agenda.
Also in attendance were students, civil society organizations, the private sector and industry players, faith based organizations, and the academia.
A number of innovations were also exhibited in line with the theme of the programme.
Exhibitors at the celebration of International Biodiversity Day in Accra
Exhibitors

Saturday, 16 March 2019

Climate change will retard Ghana’s development gains if not tackled


Mr. Samuel Dotse
The Chief Executive Officer of HATOF Foundation and the Country Coordinator of Climate Action Network-Ghana, Mr. Samuel Dotse, has expressed concerns about climate change which he says is severely impacting Ghana and continues to threaten economic growth and livelihoods of vulnerable populations across the country.
He indicated that if the national action plans put forward by government are not timely and adequately implemented to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, the country’s economy will suffer growth.
“If we fail in the implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions, it is likely to retard our developmental gains and hinder our quest to becoming a fully-fledged middle income country”. He warned
According to Mr. Dotse, “climate change is now a development issue that must be tackled from the development perspective”.
With the evidence of impact such as drought, deforestation and biodiversity loss, sea-level rise, floods, erratic rainfall pattern, increase in temperature, and water stress, across the country, climate change affects all sectors of the economy including agriculture, health, energy, transport, water, and forestry therefore actions plans put forward in Ghana’s Nationally determined Contributions, as our commitment to undertaking climate actions must be carried out not under business as usual conditions,” he said
Speaking at the press briefing organised by Climate Action Network-Ghana on Friday in  Accra,in the lead up to the Africa Climate Week Scheduled from March 18-22, 2019 in Ghana, Mr. Dotse called on the media to join in the Campaign for ambitious climate action to promote equity and social justice between peoples, sustainable development of all communities, and protection of the environment.
Mr. Dotse further announced the Network’s commitment to support the government of Ghana in its domestic and international resource mobilization strategy for the implementation of the national action plans, as well as inspire business, community, and individual actions to achieve Ghana’s Nationally Determined Contributions.
Climate Action Network-Ghana is a network of individual Ghanaian civil society organisations admitted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and committed to the protection of the earth against harmful climate change caused by the constant and fast-growing emission of greenhouse gases by humans.
About the Africa Climate Week scheduled from March 18-22, 2019 in Ghana
At the press briefing, Mr. Dotse updated the media on the Africa Climate Week, while he provided background to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement and how the Africa Climate Week promotes efforts to implement the Paris Agreement.
He informed that the Africa Climate Week represents the first major climate-orientated event in 2019 that aims to mobilize financial support to implement countries’ including Ghana’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and climate action to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Ghana requires $22.6 billion to implement all the 31 programmes, made up of 11 adaptations and 20 mitigation programmes of action put forward in the Nationally Determined Contributions from 2020-2030. Of the $22.6 billion, $6.3 billion and $16.3 billion are expected to be mobilised from domestic and international sources respectively.
The 2019 Africa Climate Week will also act as a focal point for actors to showcase ground-breaking solutions to climate change.
It also serves as a lead-up to the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in September 2019, bringing together diverse actors from the public and private sectors- to catalyse ambitious action on the ground to reduce emissions and strengthen climate resilience.
The theme for the ACW “Climate Action in Africa: A Race We Can Win” resonates with the September Summit and will focus on the following six transformational areas:

  • Energy Transition
  • Nature-based Solutions
  • Cities and Local Actions
  • Climate Actions
  • Carbon Pricing
  • Reducing Emissions from Industry and Building Resilience
The event has attracted over 2000 delegates including UN staffs, Scientists, Ministers, Policymakers, youth delegates, and non-Party stakeholders from businesses, community initiatives, financial institutions, and city municipalities across the globe.

The high-level segment on the morning of Wednesday, 20 March, will be formally opened by the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo; Ghanaian actress and television personality, Joselyn Dumas; and COP24 President MichałKurtyka.

First Published/Citinewsroom.com

Friday, 8 March 2019

Government called upon to Collaborate with Youth to Implement Climate Actions

Participating youth in the Workshop

An on-ground consultation workshop on youth and climate change adaptation has been held among selected young people and youth organisations working on climate adaptation in Ghana last Wednesday 27 February 2019 at CSIR-STEPRI, Accra.

The one-day consultation was in support of Adapt for Our Future Project being implemented by YOUNGO - the Children and Youth Constituency to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The project seeks to outline youth climate adaptation actions, challenges young people face and how these challenges are overcome. The outcome is expected to feed into the Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA) Flagship report on Adaptation to be presented at the side-lines of the upcoming UN Climate Summit in September 2019.

The consultation in Ghana gathered inputs, past experiences, and learned lessons from the participating youth brought together from research institutions, private sector, local governments and civil society organisations, working on climate adaptation at the local, national and international levels.
The consultation also had experts from climate change negotiators, private sector and the National Disaster Management Organisation who shared their experiences and engagement in climate adaptation and their involvement of youth in that regard.

Speaking at the workshop, the Principal Programme Officer from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who is also a climate change negotiator, Dr. Antwi-Boasiako Amoah provided the youth with insight into climate change from the global perspective to government of Ghana’s adaptation measures to dealing with the impacts of climate change.

Dr. Amoah revealed that climate change adaptation and development is sometimes difficult to distinguish but indicated that climate change is not abstract and that “it is about survival… something that is telling on our living every now and then, practically every day” the reason why it required collective effort in dealing with it. Dr. Amoah also noted the absence of a policy framework on engagement of youth in climate change processes, decision making and intervention as a hindrance to effective engagement of youth in climate actions.  “The future of the country is compromised if programmes do not serve youth and youth are not involved,” he warned.

The Head of Climate Change Department, National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Madam Charlotte Norman also shared the work of NADMO in dealing with the impact of climate change - like flooding, as well the organisation’s involvement of the “youth in research and innovation at the early stages” to support Ghana in its preparedness to ensure a climate resilient and climate compatible environment. She expressed her appreciation for the organisation of the workshop and asked that such collaborative workshops are often held for the youth to place themselves in identifying their roles, and opportunities for an enhanced engagement in the country’s climate change agenda.
Mr. Thomas Kankam, from Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), the umbrella body of all private sector operatives in Ghana, also presented the business case for climate change and indicated that although profit-making has been the primary objective of businesses, the private sector is gradually coming to terms with the need to prioritize environmental sustainability as businesses are not done in vacuum. He then assured the youth of their willingness to further engage them to transform ideas into action and create opportunities for future plans and programmes.

The consultation ignited passion among the youth, and promoted active thinking on how to initiate, sustain, and enhance local adaptation measures. Participants called on government to collaborate with youth and youth-led organisations to implement its Climate Change Learning Strategy, including integration of climate change into the educational curriculum.

The EPA, the national climate change focal institution was also called upon to coordinate climate actions of youth, and lead policy processes together with other relevant sector institutions such as the National Youth Authority to institutionalize engagement of youth in climate action as a requirement.
The consultation was organised by HATOF Foundation, Agorvie Youth for Sustainable Development (AY4SD) and Abibiman Foundation on behalf of YOUNGO.

First Published/Citinewsroom.com

Tuesday, 1 December 2015

Show credibility to leverage climate finance - Ex.President John Agyekum Kufuor

Former President J.A.Kufuor

The United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change and former president of Ghana – President John Agyekum Kufuor has admonished African financial institutions to show credibility in order to attract international climate finance to support development in Africa.

The former president indicated that international donors have had the challenge of identifying credible institutions in Africa through which it could channel funds to address the impact of climate change on the continent - due to perceived corruption leveled against African governments.

President Kufuor therefore called on African financial institutions to position themselves to leverage international climate finance to support governments and local communities to fight climate change and reduce poverty.

He was of the view that should Africa’s financial institutions such as New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD), and the African Development Bank (AfDB) continue to uphold integrity and credibility, it will put them in a better position to mobilize more funds to address the adverse effect of climate change in Africa.

Speaking at the Side Event organized by African Development Bank at the African Pavilion, amidst the Twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties , President Kufuor who is also the United Nations Secretary Generals’ Special Envoy on Climate, urged the international donor community to honor their pledge of USD 100 Billion per year by 2020 as promised in the Copenhagen Accord in 2009 to support development in developing and least developed countries.

The Twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) and the eleventh session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP 11) serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is underway in Paris – France.

At COP 21, it is expected that Parties will adopt a new legally binding universal climate agreement that would come into effect and be implemented from 2020 to as it were mitigate the impact of climate change on vulnerable countries.

Thursday, 25 September 2014

250,000 people to die each year due to climate change


A research from the World Health Organization reveals that climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050; 38 000 due to heat exposure in elderly people, 48 000 due to diarrhoea, 60 000 due to malaria, and 95 000 due to childhood under nutrition.

Results indicate that the burden of disease from climate change in the future will continue to fall mainly on children in developing countries, but that other population groups will be increasingly affected.

And already a new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that global emissions of greenhouse gases have risen to unprecedented levels despite a growing number of policies to reduce climate change.

IPCC is the international body for assessing the science related to climate change.

It estimates suggest that climate change is likely to have significant effects on cereal crop productivity, potentially increasing the risk of under nutrition.

Projected increases in infectious disease morbidity, especially for diarrhoea illness, would exacerbate climate change effects on child nutrition.

In 2030, sub-Saharan Africa is projected to have the greatest burden of mortality impacts attributable to climate change.

By 2050, south Asia is projected to be the region most affected by the health effects of climate change.
Climate change is thus accelerating and poses sweeping risks for economic stability and the security of nations. Food security and the ecosystem are challenged. We see people losing their habitat through natural disasters, and other fighting over water.
While the world is confronting Ebola and terrorism as immediate cases, we have to also come to terms with the fact that climate change has immediacy with greater and longer- term consequences that can cost hundreds and billions of people’s lives and security of the world.
Hence the need for effective action to confront the mounting threat of climate change is now.
Actions taken so far

In light of the threats of climate change, 193 heads of state and leaders from business, finance and civil society met the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, on Tuesday 23 September, 2014 for the United Nations Climate Summit to generate political will towards emission reduction and build resilience to the impact of climate change.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, acknowledged that “Time is running out” and “the more we delay, the more we will pay”
He agreed "Without significant cuts in emissions by all countries, and in key sectors, the window of opportunity to stay with less than 2 degrees will soon close forever”.
Ban Ki-moon added, “many leaders, from all regions and all levels of economic development advocated for a peak in greenhouse gas emissions before 2020, dramatically reduced emissions thereafter, and climate neutrality in the second half of the century."
President Barack Obama also called on world leaders, specifically China to join the United States to lead the rest of the world in carbon reduction.

Addressing the United Nations, Obama reiterated, "We have a responsibility to lead,"  “We know what we have to do to avoid irreparable harm.  We have to cut carbon pollution in our own countries to prevent the worst effects of climate change. And we have to work together as a global community to tackle this global threat before it is too late”. 

Ahead of the UN Summit

Ahead of the summit thousands of people including the youth took to marching through the streets to tell world leaders the need to cut global warming pollution.

On the other hand, UN Special Envoy on Climate Change and the former president of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, had engaged almost all African leaders on the need to galvanize support and declare their commitment towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Before the summit, it was expected that world leaders attending the summit demonstrate that they fully understand the dangers that climate change poses to the prosperity and well-being of their citizens; and also acknowledge their collective responsibility to act urgently to reduce this threat.

Fortunately, foreign ministers of US, Peru, and France met their colleague ministers at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Change Ministerial on Sunday 21st September, 2014 ahead of the UN Summit and admitted that climate change has impacts not only on the environment but on various economies and global security interests as well.
The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, in his opening statement at the foreign ministers forum recognized 20 countries, including US and China as “the economies that are in the best position to be able to address the global threat of climate change”
Addressing the ministers Kerry reiterated “unlike many of the challenges that we face, when it comes to climate change we know exactly what it takes to get the job done. There’s no mystery to this. The solution to climate change is energy policy. If we make the right choices about how we build buildings, how we transport people, what we do with respect to providing electricity and power to our countries, this problem gets solved. And every one of our countries has the technologies today to be able to do this. The policies aren’t complicated. It’s getting the political will to make the decisions to do what we know we have to do about it. It’s as simple as that, and that is true all over the world.”
My concerned as an African who is largely affected by the impact of climate change is for world leaders to abide by their own commitments this time round to avoid the same disappointment saw during the Rio Earth summit, of 1992, and the Kyoto protocol which could not successfully address issues of emission reduction.

The UN Summit took place on 23rd September, 2014, marking the first time in five years that world leaders got together to register a bold and new course of action on climate change. The Secretary-General charged leaders to declare significant and substantial initiatives to help move the world toward a path that will limit global warming.

Among the declarations at the Summit include increasing the use of renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency, reducing deforestation, promoting climate smart agriculture, building resilience, reducing pollutants, mobilizing finance for climate action, and promoting climate action in the world’s cities.

First Published/Citifmonline.com

Friday, 8 August 2014

Implications of 2015 global climate change agreement on African countries including Ghana


Climate Change
The negotiations for a new Climate Change Agreement in 2015 is far advanced after the first commitment period under the Kyoto protocol ended in December,2012.
France is to hold the 2015 United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change expected to come out with another “legally binding instrument” or an agreed “outcome with a legal force” on climate change which will be applicable to all parties to the UNFCCC and emitters of greenhouse gases. Should the latter outcome be announced, then Africa, including Ghana will have serious implications.
Before I explain, let me throw more light on the climate change negotiation process for your appreciation.
In 1979, the world recognized climate change as an urgent world problem and held its first Climate Change Conference meeting and issued a declaration which calls on governments to anticipate and guard against potential climate hazards.
From that time onward, public debate on the change in atmosphere advanced in Toronto, 1988. Over 340 participants from 46 countries all recommended that a comprehensive global framework convention be adopted to protect the atmosphere.
So, for the first time in the United Nations General Assembly, Climate change issues were discussed following a proposal by Malta. With several programmes and scientific bodies put in place to assess the magnitude and timing of changes, a second world climate change conference was held in Geneva, 1990 and had the United Nations General Assembly established the  Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to negotiate for a Framework Convention on Climate Change.
In responds to the declaration in the climate change conferences, the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro and entered into force in 1994.
The UNFCCC ultimate objective is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system and food production.
So far, 196 countries including Ghana have signed and ratified. Ghana signed the UNFCCC in 1994 and had it ratified by parliament of Ghana in September 6, 1995.
As the negotiation continued, it was recognized that developed countries are primarily responsible for the current high levels of green house gas emissions in the atmosphere based on their pre-industrial era dated back to 1990. Yet, they have greater technological and financial resources to respond to the problems that come with the effect of climate change; so in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was then adopted and came into force in 2005 as a legally binding instrument to place a heavier burden on developed nations to reduce emissions under the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities”.
"Common but differentiated responsibilities” explains that though effect of Climate change is common to very country, not all economies have equal capacity to deal with its adverse effects.
Therefore since the developed world contribute more to global environmental problems and yet have technological and financial capacities to deal with the problem, they are heavily compelled to reduce emissions at the same time, provide financial and technological support to the developing countries who suffer the most from climate change yet do not have the necessary capacity to meet the cost of adaptation. So the adaptation fund was established. Developing countries in the case had voluntary responsibility to commit to emissions reduction.
Though the protocol came into force in 2005, its first commitment period actually started in 2008 and ended in December 31, 2012; so for 5 years while the protocol lasted, developed countries reported to the convention on their level of emission reduced and other financial support given to developing countries to address the effects of climate change.
However since the protocol ended, no legally binding instrument has yet been proposed to replace the protocol; living almost 8 years gap for serious and smart countries to take advantage of possible emissions to the detriment of least develop countries. I say eight years because, should a negotiation be reached in Paris 2015, it will only enter into force in 2020.
Prior to the end of the protocol, there was an attempt to avoid the gap but unfortunately, the Copenhagen meeting held in 2009 could not come up with any decision to bridge the gap. Again, world leaders met in Mexico in 2010, Durban in 2011, and Doha in 2012, and in Warsaw 2013, to have a clear language and new pathways for the new Climate change agreement.
Pending a final negotiation for new legally binding instrument, world leaders will in December, 2014 meet in Lima to draft the final text. Then in Paris 2015, a new Climate Change agreement will be negotiated to replace the Kyoto Protocol. The outcome is expected to enter into force and be implemented from 2020 onward.
Two languages are likely to emerge in the new agreement; thus a “protocol” or an “agreed outcome with a legal force”. Either of which languages may be adopted has its own implications on African countries including Ghana. I will explain.
A protocol is a legally binding instrument which puts stringent measures on developed countries to reduce emissions. However, developing countries in this case have voluntary and flexible commitment to make towards reducing emission. This is due to the reasons given in the Kyoto Protocol.
An outcome with a legal force means that all countries irrespective of their capabilities will share equal responsibilities and respond to emission reduction. And when this happens, it will go in favour of the developed countries because unlike the protocol, developed countries in this case will not be heavily compelled to support developing countries in emission reduction.
And with their heavy technologies and finance capabilities they will be able to deal with the effects of climate change. While developing countries, struggle to use internally generated funds to deal with the adverse effects of the climate at the expense of other developments. 
Developing countries can no longer fold their arms and demand developed countries to pay any historical debt.
Already, the two-week talk in Bonn in June this year has shown some red lights of a sort. Gao Feng, a senior representative of the Chinese delegation to the talks said, "Consensus was being accumulated despite various divergences,"
“He said while developing countries were asking for a comprehensive and balanced reflection of mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology transfer, capability building and transparency of supports in the new deal, as well as in the "contributions", developed countries focused too much on mitigation, or emission cuts, in their viewpoints, ignoring their obligation of providing financial and technological supports to developing countries”.
Now the question; is Africa ready for an “agreed outcome with a legal force”?
The Answer is no, in my opinion. Except for few countries like South Africa, many African countries including Ghana are not ready for the new pathways likely to hit us because it is capital intensive and requires proper documentation. All countries are expected to pledge and prove ways to reduce emissions under what is called “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)” to be considered in Paris.
Unfortunately whether a country has the capacity or not, they must make a commitment towards emission reduction and present Biannual Update Report in every two years to the convention.
Ghana will have to calculate the amount of CO2 it releases into the atmosphere and how it’s reducing that.
Eleven countries have begun putting in their proposals (INDCs). But as it stands now, Ghana has not proposed anything.  And should COP 20 in Paris come up with an “outcome with a legal instrument” the plights of developing countries including Ghana will worsen.
In as much as some of us want the outcome to favour Africa, some African leaders do not go to the negotiation prepared. Whereas USA goes to the negotiation table with their best scientists and skilful negotiators, our scientists and academia are nowhere to be found.
Lack of finance to support Africa scientists, and the inadequate technical competence contributes to Africa’s lack of climate change negotiation skills. It is about time, African governments identify young scientists, develop their skills to fit into the climate change negotiation process.
Africa as a group is not a party to the convention. They can only make submissions as individuals but cannot take decisions or negotiate as a group. 
The suggestion therefore is that just as the European Union is party to the convention, the Africa Union should also endeavour to become parties to the convention. Until this happens Africa will only be speaking not as a group but as individuals.
Again, Africa should go into this negotiation with a positive mind and not the attitude of “we are not responsible for climate change” because that fact has already been established.

First Published/Citifmonline.com