By Emmauel Mensah-Abludo
The Former Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, has stressed the need for people in the Northern parts of Ghana to take advantage of the abundant sunshine in the area to tap into renewable energy as a way of mitigating global warming.
Dr. Chambas made the observation at the opening of the third Northern Ghana Development Summit at Jirapa in the Upper West Region.
Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo reports that the focus of the Summit is “Accelerating Development of Northern Ghana through Investments and Partnerships, Jobs, Peace and Security”.
Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas indicated that there is so much sunshine in the North and that the situation makes it imperative for the area to lead in terms of renewables.
“How about ensuring that in the not too distant future, every public building is powered by solar or some renewable energy.”
Dr. Chambas equally touched on the hydro potential of the North.
“How can we take some dividends in COP26 to impact on the energy renewables in Northern Ghana and really bring this to have meaning for us to be able to in our own little way than to contribute to mitigation of global warming”, he asserts.
The Executive Director of STAR Ghana Foundation, Ibrahim Tanko Amidu stressed the need for the Summit to produce ideas to push the transformational agenda of Northern Ghana.
”How can we rethink the inequalities, infrastructural gaps, and unemployment in northern Ghana. The rising insecurity in the sub-region with implications for the North.
How can we consolidate the fragile peace in the north following resolution of some long-standing conflicts, while seeking to make progress on other outstanding ones? How about Climate change and its impact on livelihoods. Covid and its impact on quality of health care and education, and the deepening poverty issues”, he noted.
