Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Please listen to audio here.
IMANI’s director of development, Bright Simons spoke to Journalists from 11 media houses in Ghana and urged them to let the public and government know that Ghana was better off focusing on economic development instead of pretending to be supporting the unattainable task of fighting climate change.
Bright noted that the world was going to require US$3 trillion to achieve the mythical emissions reduction targets set in order to prevent temperatures from rising by 2 degrees Celsius just in a six year period. The big question is what happens after the six years?
He wondered why that sum was not being voluntarily set aside by governments (through private led efforts, instead obligatory taxes) to invest in innovative ways of adapting to climate change.
Bright demonstrated clearly that humans have little control of the natural phenomena especially as human contribution to the problem is a negligible 2%.
Bright remarkably refuted claims that climate change was responsible for the recent floods and droughts in some parts of Ghana. Instead, he blamed our inability to manage early warning systems and invest in preventive plus durable infrastructure- why wouldn’t mud and thatch houses be razed to the ground by ferocious rainstorms? He asked why the Netherlands surrounded by water has survived over the years when just like Bangladesh, the Netherlands is a low lying country. The difference, he said was the level of economic development. The Netherlands invested in building giant dykes to prevent flooding whereas Bangladesh did not-but Bangladesh has been poorly governed over the decades, being named the most corrupt country in the world severally.
So clearly, unless Ghana focused on building the blocks to prosperity, i.e., the rule of law, property rights, decentralised systems of governance and resource allocation, it will forever remain poor leaving her citizens little or nothing to purchase insurance against natural disasters, when they do happen.
Location: IMANI Headquarters