The Executive Director of A Rocha Ghana, Dr. Seth Appiah-Kubi, is calling on stakeholders to urgently implement strategies to achieve the SDG 13 target: Climate Action.

His remarks follow a report by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, revealing January 2024 as the world’s warmest January on record, with global temperatures 1.66°C above the average during pre-industrial times.

Dr. Appiah-Kubi expressed concern about this development and asserted that the fight against climate change demands collective efforts from both government and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

Addressing the media at the launch of Denmark’s Support for SDG 13 and SDG 16 in Accra on February 8, 2024, Dr. Seth Appiah-Kubi called on stakeholders to support the call for climate action.

He said, “Government has a role to play in this. In fact, the government is to facilitate integrating climate change action in planning national policy and strategy. But in Civil Society Organizations, you also have a role, a big role. You are with the people. You are at the community level. The impact of climate change will be at that level. And you are there with them.”

Denmark has renewed its commitment to, among other things, help Ghana’s national and civil society organizations achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 16 – Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, and SDG 13 – Climate Action, through the provision of a grant of one million Danish Kroner, equivalent to 1.8 million Cedis.

The one-year project launch, which is in partnership with the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), aims to build capacity and support the efforts of local actors in increasing awareness and engagement regarding climate change issues in the political debate, as well as addressing challenges within democracy, civic space, freedom of speech, and human rights.

Present at the launch were the Ambassador of Denmark to Ghana, Tom Norring, Deputy Executive Director of WANEP, Levinia Addae-Mensah, Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council, George Amoh, heads of some CSOs, and other dignitaries.