The Speaker of US House of Representatives Mrs. Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday underscored the need for environment justice, so that “all children, no matter where they grow up can breathe clean air and drink clean water.”
“To fully achieve environmental justice, we must combat the climate crisis, which is the existential threat of our time,” she advocated, as she addressed the Parliament of Ghana, in Accra.
Mrs. Pelosi, leading a 16-member congressional black delegation on a four-day state visit to Ghana, applauded Ghana’s leadership in the fight to ensure environmental justice, enshrined in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
“America applauds Ghana’s leadership in this fight: a commitment that is enshrined in your very Constitution, which pledges “to protect and safeguard the national environment for posterity and the wider international environment for mankind.
Mrs. Pelosi saluted the leadership of Ghana in the Paris Climate Accord and the work the nation had done to lower emissions, increase use of renewables and advance climate resilience in the communities of Ghana.
“The House of Representatives and the American people are with you, and remain committed to honouring our own obligations in this fight,” she said, and added that addressing climate crisis was a public health decision for clean air and clean water.
“The solution to the climate crisis is also an economic decision for the creation of green, good paying jobs; as well a security decision to combat drought, floods and famine which create competition for resources and migration challenges.
“Environmental justice is also a moral decision to be good toward stewards of God’s creation and to pass the climate-on responsibility to each new generation.
“And finally, we must achieve justice for our most vulnerable communities, by advancing security, ensuring stability and promoting peace throughout the region and the world,” Pelosi advocated.
GNA
