Kufuor calls for donor support in fighting climate change

Former President John Agyekum Kufour has said donors and the public should play a major role in assisting businesses fight climate change and environmental degradation.

The ex-president, who was speaking at the World Bank Group launch of the Climate Innovation Centre to support Ghana's green economy in Accra on Wednesday May 17, indicated that: “If we are seeking green solutions to fight the impact of climate change which is global, I believe public policy, donor community support, as well as private venturists should share the risk of investment to transition from fossil fuels to green energy.”

The centre is a technology hub designed to help over 100 local clean technology businesses develop and commercialise innovative solutions to climate change.

The World Bank believes climate change will have serious and adverse consequences for many development sectors in Africa, and threatens the economies and livelihoods of many African countries.

To support African countries as they deal with the challenges of climate change, the World Bank has laid out a plan of action aimed at adaptation to climate change in Africa, seizing mitigation opportunities on the continent, building knowledge and capacity, and making more financing available.

For ex-president Kufour, he held the view that: “We should not put the burden all together on the entrepreneurs who dare to go into say bamboo…I believe public policy should be there because after all we are talking about environmental sanitation which has an impact on public health and a whole lot of things.”