The 350 Ghana Reducing Our Carbon (G-ROC), a network of youth groups advocating for a reduction in carbon emissions has called on the Ga West Municipal Assembly to integrate renewable energy in its development plans.
The group called on the municipality to champion the use of solar, wind, and waste to generate electricity.
It said by doing so, the Assembly would help in the government’s effort of localizing renewable energy policy and to contribute to the global agenda of energy efficiency and access while creating jobs for the people.
The G-ROC, which promotes renewable energy to combat climate change made the call at a day’s workshop at the Ga West Municipal Assembly.
The network, which is part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ‘7’ and ‘13’ platform under the Kasa Ghana Initiative seeks to enhance the capacities of some selected municipal assemblies in the Greater Accra Regional to integrate renewable energy plans in their annual activities.
It is aimed at supporting the government’s objective of building solar panels on all public offices and to implement climate-smart initiatives to achieve the SDGs agenda 2030.
The workshop was attended by some members of the private sector, civil society organisations, and the media.
It looked into the Assembly’s Medium-term Development Plan, the 2020 Activity Plan, and other documents to aid in developing a draft renewable energy plan and road-map to achieving the SDGs.
Mr Chibeze Ezekiel, a member of the network, making a presentation mentioned some of the advantages in renewable energy as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, job creation, energy supply diversification, public health improvement, provision of individual energy independence, and money-saving.
He said Section (2) of the Renewable Energy Act, 2011 (Act 832) defined renewable energy as energy obtained from non-depleting sources including; wind, solar, hydro, biomass, biofuel, landfill gas, and sewage gas among others.
Mr Ezekiel urged the Assembly to mainstream into educational or community sensitisation activities to engage market women, traders, and others to change to renewable energy whilst infrastructures are put up with renewable energy considerations.
He called on the Assembly to actively profile and disseminate its renewable energy interventions nationally and internationally to engage the prospective private sector.
Mr Habib Mohammed, the Ga West Municipal Coordinating Director expressed gratitude to the G-ROC for the workshop and gave the assurance that the Assembly is ready to partner them as far as climatic issues were concerned.
“Luckily we have one and a half years more to finish with our medium year development plan and when we move into the next cycle of our medium-term plan from 2022 to 2026 we can make a wonderful impact on our communities,” he said.
GNA
