By
Emmanuel Todd/Jacqueline Appiagyei, GNA
Accra, Oct. 26, GNA – Ms Sylvia Lopez-Ekra,
United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator, has said that climate change is a
global threat to the livelihood and wellbeing of all and it is vital to develop
meaningful policies to address the situation.
She said the world is experiencing unusual
seasonal activities which include unexpected rainfall, drought and extreme
temperatures.
She said there are simple individual and collective
measures that can be taken to curb the impact of climate change.
She made this statement through a speech
read on her behalf by Ms Ifeoma Esther Charles-Monwuba, Director Ghana
Operational Hub, United Nations Office of Project Service (UNOPS) during a
beach cleanup exercise organised for UN staff in Ghana as part of activities to
mark its 74th Anniversary.
The exercise and celebration is being held
under the theme: “A Clean Environment for Health Living: Our Collective
Responsibility.”
Ms Lopez-Ekra said sensitisation efforts
continue across the country to ensure proper sanitation practices has led to
marginal increases in the proportion of households that have access to at least
basic sanitation services.
She said the exercise was in support of the UN
Secretary General’s efforts on climate change and to raise awareness about
plastic pollution in the country.
Ms Hadiyah Garba, Project Engineer UNOPS,
Ghana, said the UN office in Ghana has put in place measures to ensure a green
environment and to prevent the use of plastics as much as possible in offices
and households.
She said some objectives embarked on to
achieve this goal include the construction of rain water harvesters to store
water, the use of energy saving bulbs, to do much work electronically to avoid
the generation of paper waste.
“To avoid single use of plastics in our
offices we have made room for alternatives, instead of using plastic plates we
use ceramic plates, “she said.
She said marine litter affects about 600
species and was it is known that 50 per-cent of the waste generated was from
the use of the single waste plastics; “we need to walk the talk and that is
what the UN organisation is doing.”
Mr Richmond Kennedy Quarcoo, Director
Plastic Punch, said their partnership with the UN was an effort to bring all
the stakeholders in the waste chain together to solve the problem with the
plastic menace.
“We carried out a lot of awareness
strategies through theater drama, digital games and beach cleanup exercises,”
he said.
He said most of the waste gathered would be
recycled and plastics collected would be used to manufacture bricks for
construction and the bottles would be shredded and use for textiles.
The entire exercise was able to clean the
Kumasamba La-Bamba beach in South-La of about 675 kilograms of waste which
comprise of plastics, coconut husk, sticks, shoes clothing and water sachets.
GNA
