ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE IN GHANA.

As nations across the world continue to strategize on the best approach to adopt in meeting the food requirement of the nine (9) billion population of the world in 2050, it beholds on all to champion sustainable environmental development practices in order to safeguard and support our environment to achieve the desired food security and ensure sustainable environmental development.

The youth manifesto of Ghana therefore provides innovative and results driven environmental development policy alternatives and actions relevant in engaging and developing the capacity of the youth to become stewards of the nation’s rich natural resources.

In view of this, the youth manifesto of Ghana has formulated impact oriented actions that will promote the nation’s sustainable environmental development; as it ensures the active engagement of the youth in maintaining the nation’s environmental integrity for accelerated national development.

 In the perspective of the youth manifesto of Ghana, actions should be formulated to support and mobilize the youth for environmental protection and sustainability. In its view, environmental education should continue to be mainstreamed in to our school curricula to practically develop the capacity of the youth on the environment.

The development of the capacity of the youth on the environment will raise a generation of youth who are stewards of the nation’s natural resources and thus actively engaged in spearheading the implementation of innovative educational activities to raise the needed awareness for a greater commitment in conserving the nation’s rich natural resources. This will enable the nation meet its current and future natural resource requirement for sustainable environmental development.

Furthermore, the development of the capacity of the youth on the environment will enable them influence the formulation and implementation of development oriented environmental policies to among other things mitigate the effects of climate change as well as promote climate change adaptive strategies for accelerated national growth.

The youth manifesto of Ghana also points out to the need for nationwide advocacy campaigns on environmental protection with the dissemination of informative materials illustrating the global dimension of environmental protection as well as the interrelated effects of environmental degradation on national development.

It is in this regard that the Savannah Young Farmers Network (SavaNet) is spearheading the implementation of activities for the Global Power Shift (GPS) movement in Ghana to champion the implementation of action oriented programs aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change; as well as advocate for the adoption of climate change adaptive measures to curtail the rising effects of climate change on national and international development.

 The Global Power Shift (GPS) is a global action by the world’s youth against climate change and is therefore committed in building National and Regional movements across the world to design and carry out innovative activities geared towards engineering a global revolution on the need for the world to exhibit a greater commitment in combating the rising effects of climate change.

Ghana’s Global Power Shift (GPS) Movement will design and carry out series of advocacy programs on the environment and climate change across the nation. This initiative will rally the Ghanaian youth to initiate and sustain a vibrant advocacy campaign that will also bring together youth organizations, youth activist, governmental and non-governmental youth development organizations/agencies, the media etc to show case the urgent need for a nationwide action in addressing the challenge of climate change.

Ghana’s movement of the Global Power Shift (GPS) will also engage policy makers, aimed at influencing the formulation of development oriented policies that are committed in ensuring sustainable environmental development in order to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Furthermore, the Ghana movement of the Global Power Shift (GPS) will embark upon nationwide tree planting programs with the objective of attracting the interest of the youth in becoming stewards of the environment; as they engage in the growing and nurturing of tree plantations of economic value.

These interventions by the Ghana movement of the Global Power Shift will significantly contribute in addressing the recommendations outlined by the youth manifesto of Ghana on the need to mobilize and support the youth to be engaged in environmental protection.

 The youth manifesto of Ghana also advocates for the development of Ghana’s ecotourism industry to ensure environmental protection as well as provide the youth with employment opportunities. According to Ghana’s youth manifesto, a well developed ecotourism industry will to a large extend conserve and manage the nation’s rich natural resources to protect them from: illegal exploitation, bush fires, land degradation, the pollution of our water bodies etc.

The youth manifesto of Ghana considers ecotourism as a viable employment venture that can contribute immensely in addressing the rising level of youth unemployment in Ghana. Through the implementation of a well structured ecotourism employment program, the youth can serve as ecotour operators to work with local communities to develop and manage ecotourism sites to raise the needed revenue for national development.

Employing the youth in the ecotourism sector will better position them to engage the citizenry in environmental education/advocacy programs to raise awareness on the need to protect our environment for sustainable development.

Developing Ghana’s ecotourism sector according to the youth manifesto of Ghana will also improve upon the acquisition of knowledge and practical training on the environment by the youth to enable them play leading roles in the conservation and management of the nation’s rich natural resources.

Furthermore, the nation’s commitment in developing its ecotourism industry will ensure the formulation of the needed environmental policies aimed at protecting our rich natural resources in order to increase it’s to national GDP.

Following the vital role that the environment play in national development, the youth manifesto of Ghana calls on the youth, government and its development partners, policy makers and the citizenry at large to exhibit a greater sense of commitment in maintaining the nation’s environmental integrity in order to conserve its rich and diverse natural resources for national development.