The world is no longer what it used to be. Beyond progress made with industrialization among nations, its impact has set tongues wagging over man’s need and desire to remain dominant on the economic front.

The impact of endeavors championed by individual countries is seen in the long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns in a place by way of climate change.

Invariably, climate change, particularly on the African continent is arguably seen as a distant occurrence, but its adverse effect is clearly spelt out with the changes in rainfall pattern, flooding, drought, among others.

Despite global conferences and consensus on the need to simmer down on emissions, reduction in flaring, and other means through which climate could potentially be affected, it all ends up in the books, with no real action towards it.

As far back as 2009, the world’s wealthier nations pledged to mobilize US$100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries cope with climate change. The funding would be used to adapt to the impacts of climate change and reduce or prevent emissions.

World Economic Forum reckoned that the world’s poorest countries are expected to be hit hardest by climate change extremes such as droughts, floods and cyclones.

Furthermore, it highlighted that African countries are among the most vulnerable to those impacts on food security, health, economies and ecosystems.

For example, crop yield loss projections are larger for tropical regions of Africa. And poorer populations in sub-Saharan Africa are at highest risk of malnutrition.

Given all these challenges, debate has been focused on climate risks, impact and increasing resilience of vulnerable groups. But the international community and bilateral organisations have mostly avoided questions around who should be responsible for addressing these issues.

Meanwhile, the 28th edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as the Conference of the Parties, has kicked off, with Ghana joining over 200 countries worldwide to exchange nuanced knowledge and information, foster decisive action, and expedite collective efforts towards addressing climate change.

Ghana’s stance on measures to curb climate change

At the Pre-COP event held in Accra on November 23, 2023, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor, MP, articulated the significance of the event.

He emphasized that the conference, scheduled from December 1 to December 12, 2023 “presents a unique opportunity for us to review the effectiveness of our adaptation and mitigation measures, climate financing, and our country’s Nationally Determined Contributions, with the aim of updating such Nationally Determined Contributions.”.

In essence, the Lands Minister’s statement encapsulates the core purpose of COP28 which is providing a platform for a global stock take and assessment of progress in implementing actions and policies aimed at addressing the destructive consequences of climate change.

At the heart of the conference will be the implementation of the Paris Agreement, a landmark accord signed in 2015 by nations committing to limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. The discussions and deliberations during COP28 are expected to drive forward the global commitment to combating climate change and achieving the objectives outlined in the Paris Agreement.

Regrettably, global climate debate has failed to address loss and damages in developing countries, including countries in Africa. The IPCC report states that without global action, climate related impacts and risks could undermine Africa’s development.

Climate is bound to change if humans don’t change, and it’s only a matter of time before the uninvited guest shows up.

Among the many measures which have been advanced, adaptation projects across key sectors such as agriculture, environment, health and water are funded in many African countries remains yet. However, these projects are underfunded, fragmented and poorly coordinated.

In light of this, there is a mismatch between mitigation and adaptation projects in Africa as funding is inaccessible for the latter. There is the need for global leaders to do, COP28 shouldn’t just be a place to bond, but one to make hard decisions on the way forward.