By Alpha Abu
President Julius Maada Bio has told the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland that the limited budget resource available in the country could impede Sierra Leone’s efforts at investing in “climate change actions”. The President who took the podium on the second day of gathering of world leaders and environmentalists to discuss the disconcerting rise in global warming and its portending effects around the world, said the situation is further compounded for Sierra Leone , being amongst the least developed countries.
Quoting popular screen Muppet Kermit the Frog’s saying ”it’s not that easy being green”, President Bio said his government was ready to collaborate with partners to ease the investment climate by mapping out incentives that hinge on Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) that would take into consideration nature’s protection and preservation.
He highlighted the need for technical support for his government to “implement regulatory and structural reforms”, noting technical and vocational training could “support the growth of jobs created as a consequence of these investments”
The President spoke about Sierra Leone’s diverse ecosystems but acknowledged the country’s vulnerability to the gruelling effects of climate change including threats to health, water security, food availability, and human habitation. These anomalies, he went on, had further engendered poverty, youth unemployment and gender disparities. President Bio said his government in the face of the daunting challenges, has put in place measures to address climate change related issues across the country.
“We have enhanced the conservation and protection of natural habitats and ecosystems, improved meteorological services, integrated water resource management and community-based adaptation strategies in the agriculture sector, and promoted climate change risk management,” he told the Summit. He stressed the need to invest in affordable low carbon emission cooking that would discourage the use of charcoal, thereby protecting the forests.
He also disclosed the readiness of his government “to invest in green urban planning, sustainable urban waste management and green mass transit transportation systems”. The President however drew attention to the less than 5% access Africa gets to global climate financing, and emphasised the essence of support by larger economies and international financial institutions to reduce the potential for financial losses for “private capital and green investments”.
This year’s summit is dubbed Conference of Parties or COP26 to mark the twenty-sixth meeting of nations that first signed in 1994, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).
The last meeting was held in 2019 ; the November 2020 scheduled event was cancelled due to the COVID 19 pandemic. This meeting in the Scottish capital became even more demanding after the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, UNIPCC ,a couple of months ago, gave a chilling assessment of climate change, describing it as “code red for humanity”, galvanising concerted action by world leaders and environmentalists for collective engagement.
US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson are among the political figures attending the conference.
Global warming and climate change have become very serious issues for countries due to gas emissions and destruction to forests and other unregulated activities that are harmful to the environment.
Copyright © Politico Online 03/11/21
