Joshua Amponsem: Championing Climate Action from Cape Coast to COP26
The effects of Climate Change in Africa have been real. And devastating. Individuals are losing their lives, livelihood, and property to floods, drought, hurricanes, and so on. Climate Adaptation has become more important now than ever because of the need to survive these disasters- How can our homes and small businesses be protected from floods? How do we fight food and water insecurity when drought happens? What is our backup when climate disaster hits?
Every year, world leaders, climate activists, and experts meet to negotiate new climate commitments at the United Nations’ Climate Conference known as the Conference of Parties (COP). Last year, the 26th session of this conference (COP26) was held in Glasgow with new commitments to mitigate climate change, and measures to adapt to its already existing effects.
I spent a bit of time following some of the proceedings through various news channels, articles, and Twitter posts and I was thrilled to discover Joshua Amponsem, a young Ghanaian climate expert, activist, and founder of the Green Africa Youth Organisation (GAYO) making some very important contributions at this world event. Today I interview him about his work with GAYO, his experiences at COP26, and ways we can mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I have a background in environmental science, climate change, and disaster risk reduction and I work mainly to support youth engagement in these areas. My work involves understanding how institutions can integrate the views and aspirations of youth into their work, and ensuring that the government, private sector, and development agencies include the input of young people in their interventions especially when these interventions are targeted toward this demographic. I started this in 2014 when I founded the Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO), working at the grassroots level in Ghana and eventually connecting with other international organizations, climate leaders, and advocates to understand the role of the youth in effecting global environmental change. I then co-authored the first background paper on Climate Change Adaptation and Young People, discussing how we can build expertise and raise awareness to adapt to the already existing impacts of carbon emissions as we also try to combat it on a global scale.
What inspired you to start Green Africa Youth Organization?
I had this idea back in 2014 as a student at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. I realized that our education system tends to offer young students a lot of information but falls short in providing students with the tools to convert this knowledge into practical solutions outside the classroom. My motivation for starting the Green Africa Youth Organization was to translate the academic conversation from the classroom into practical solutions for communities.
What are some of the projects that GAYO has embarked on?
Our projects center on three thematic areas: disaster risk reduction, circular economy, and climate change.
On disaster risk reduction, we hold quiz competitions and educational programs for students across Ghana to help them understand the risk the hazards, exposure, and vulnerability to environmental hazards and how to act on them. We teach them the different policy frameworks in this field in connection with the Sendai Framework on disaster risk reduction.
We are currently implementing a sustainable community project–the first community-based circular economy approach to waste management [in conjunction with about 5 metropolitan municipal and district assemblies in Ghana]. We started this project in Bamako, Mali, last year and we are looking to expand this across other cities. Through this, we launched the first zero-waste strategy with the City of Accra.
We have several projects under our climate change portfolio, which include the Water 4 Adaptation project which provides water resources for arid and semiarid areas in Northern Ghana. We also have the Trees for Biodiversity project which involves growing trees to restore biodiversity and sustain cultural diversity. This ensures the trees fulfill their role of capturing atmospheric carbon (carbon sequestration), and also supports local farmers through agro-forestry. We are also carrying out an urban greening project in the La-Nkwantanang Municipality around Madina. We have worked on international projects including the Youth Voices on Climate Recovery green workshops held across Africa, Latin America, and South Asia to collect the input of young people on how development agencies can better engage them in the green recovery and COVID-19 response as well.
What are some of the biggest wins you’ve had as an organization?
The Zero Waste Accra project, our citywide sustainable waste management initiative, which was run in conjunction with the City of Accra is a win as it is the first of its kind. We also organized a local youth conference last year in the lead-up to COP26. GAYO worked together with UNICEF Ghana to launch the Youth Climate Council, a project we are particularly proud of as it supports the projects of all youth organizations in Ghana that are working on the environment and climate.
We have been recognized by many international organizations and partner with organizations across Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia. We have also launched two publications that we led at COP26.
Could you share a couple of your low points with us as well?
Institutions often perceive youth organizations as burdensome groups that solely ask for money. It’s always difficult to start projects because municipalities, government agencies, and international organizations doubt that youth organizations are capable of producing high-quality work. The GAYO team is full of experts in their respective fields, but we are often underestimated because of the “youth” tag associated with our name.
Stakeholders often agree to work with us after engaging with us in person which fuels our passion for changing this narrative.
How can we increase public education on climate change?
We need to use both formal and informal knowledge-sharing platforms with accessible language to be able to circulate information that will be available to everyone. Radio stations, billboards, and other communication tools can help the public understand the state of climate change, the risks involved, and how to reduce these risks.
In your view, what are some of the most pressing environmental challenges in Ghana?
Waste management is one of our biggest environmental problems because of the various levels of pollution that we experience in our country. The issue of plastic pollution is an enormous one that gets a lot of traction. However, organic waste pollution which is not typically talked about is also a significant issue. Almost 65% of waste across the country is organic waste and causes water pollution. This organic waste is also subjected to open burning which leads to air and land pollution. Chemical, pharmaceutical, and electronic waste are also major challenges. Pollution affects our food systems, in that, the fish found in coastal communities may contain carcinogenic substances rendering them unsafe to eat. Marine debris and foreign materials such as electronic waste found in fish make it impossible for freshwater organisms to survive our waters. Our waters are therefore unable to provide the necessary ecosystem services (reducing the risk of flooding, a source of food and water).
Flood risk and urban heat islands are also major challenges. Data now points to the fact that sea-level rise is already threatening the East Coast of Ghana with coastal erosion in the Ada and Keta areas. I traveled to these areas multiple times last year and I saw the impact of climate change washing away communities. Community members have had to adapt by migration, or heaping sandbags around their homes to prevent the water from coming in.
High precipitation, poor urban planning, and the lack of resilient infrastructure across the country make flooding a very high risk for us. High temperatures lead to drought which impacts food systems. Urban heat islands remain a risk because hawkers are exposed to health hazards such as strokes and headaches. These problems require timely solutions such as providing critical infrastructure and increasing public education to mitigate their impact and protect livelihoods.
I saw that you were at COP26. Could you tell us a bit about that and some of the outcomes of the conference?
As my work is mostly based on Africa and young people, I’ll be highlighting the outcomes of the conference that focused on these two areas. The climate adaptation agenda is very important in the African context, and at the high-level adaptation meeting at COP26, there were a lot of commitments for countries in Africa and international institutions to collaborate to drive adaptation on the continent. Implementing this requires finance, which has already seen progress. The African Development Bank has already committed about $25 billion towards adaptation. The Contributors’ Dialogue of the adaptation fundraised close to $350 million in one day to support adaptation all over the world. Some of the other positive outcomes were the integration of women and youth in the work within the climate change space, such that countries that access the fund work with young people. There was also the launch of several different declarations to protect forests and natural habitats and to invest in afforestation and reforestation across the world of which Ghana and many other African countries are signatories. Issues around carbon trading mechanisms such as double counting and transparency in how countries count their emissions and their investment in emission reduction were also addressed. Issues around compensation for people who experience loss and damage from climate change without contributing much to it were also addressed although there were not any agreements as to whether resources will be allocated to countries suffering from it.
What are the implications of the outcomes of COP26 on African countries especially Ghana?
The major implication here is that combatting climate change requires a collaborative effort from all countries. Africa as a region has more space to champion most of the land-based carbon reduction projects such as the Great Green Wall Project which could potentially reduce carbon emissions, and reduce energy poverty across the continent.
Climate finance needs to flow to Africa. At COP26, some of the pledges included ones from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Government of Italy which targets energy transition. What is needed is for the policy framework within African countries to allow for rapid implementation and scaling of these solutions. Climate change has had very devastating effects on Africa-with Cyclone Idai in 2019 and floods across Sudan and Ethiopia in 2020, among many other hazards. We need the infrastructure and technical expertise to adapt to climate change.
Why do you think climate justice is important?
This is a question of the polluter versus who suffers from the pollution. Africa’s contribution to carbon emissions is very minor but is impacted massively by climate change. Globally, 759 million people live without electricity with most of them in sub–Saharan Africa. Delivering energy to these people today requires careful consideration of clean energy sources to avoid pollution. However, energy-rich countries have already caused high carbon pollution and do not suffer the impacts to the same degree. This climate injustice is seen where countries with low carbon footprints are experiencing water insecurity, and conflict as a result. This situation presents the challenge of how to ensure that low-emitting countries no longer suffer at the expense of others’ development. Climate justice also involves intergenerational equity. Given that the current generation of young people contributed little to climate change, it is unjust for their future to be threatened as a result of activities promoted by the former generation.
What government policies can be put in place to mitigate (or adapt to) climate change in Ghana?
Considering that climate change is already affecting various livelihoods: street hawkers experiencing extreme heat, farmers facing irregular rainfall, and low crop yield amongst others, it is important that climate adaptation measures be put in place.
There must be climate risk insurance for different aspects of society. More green spaces and concrete adaptation measures for coastal communities. The National Adaptation Plan and The National Determined Contributions of Ghana outline plans for climate adaptation and mitigation. However, formulating policies is one thing and this implementation is another so the implementation phase must involve grassroots participation and not merely a top-down approach. I would also encourage everyone who can look at the national adaptation plan, [National Determined Contributions, National climate action plan for the country (the city of Accra has its climate action plan, for instance)] to look at ways in which they can contribute in their small way.
How do you think African countries can increase their bargaining power when it comes to international climate agreements?
I don’t share the opinion that Africa is weak when it comes to bargaining power. The African Group of Negotiators is already doing an amazing job! I think what we need now is to clearly understand and state our priorities and ensure that the negotiation process involves varied perspectives from youth, women, and individuals in the informal sector and that these voices are properly represented at these fora.
Joshua, with GAYO, is doing some fantastic work in the Ghanaian climate space in Ghana and across the world. You can check them out on their social media handles
Website: https://greenafricayouth.com/
Twitter: @gayoghana / @amponsemjoshua
Facebook: Green Africa Youth Organization / Joshua Amponsem
Instagram: gayoghana / amponsemjoshua
Linkedin: Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO) / Joshua Amponsem
