About the Environment: Greening The Ghanain Youth

by Kwasi Gyeabour, Ghana

INTRODUCTION
Climate change is a big issue for my country, even though current government policy only outlines it, there’s no implementation of these outlines. Ghana hosted the 2008 United Nations climate change talks in Accra (21-27th August 2008), where several negotiations were made with no immediate impact on the host nation. According to the Encarta encyclopedia, my country is currently only 24% forested and it is rapidly dwindling down per annum. Ghana has about 22 million people in an area of about 238,500 sq. Km and a population density of about 99 persons per square Kilometer. We depend extensively on hydroelectric power for energy, and about 55 %( 2000) of the population is employed in the agricultural sector. The sector is not as mechanized as those in the advanced countries so we mostly depend directly on the vagaries of the weather. Most Ghanaians live on less than a dollar a day even though official economic figures suggest a better situation. Ghana officially protects about 4.8% of its land area but there is the issue of illegal sales of these lands to timber companies, and illegal logging activities by locals. Although we have ratified international agreements protecting the ozone layer, tropical forests, wetlands and endangered species, government activities and policies do not consider these agreements. Foreign companies with much financial influence normally get their way with the government. Our climate is composed of two rainy seasons in the south and one long rainy season in the north. There is also the Harmattan/dry season between November and January. Climate change has brought about extremities in the weather patterns in Ghana.

Recent Weather Extremes and its effects in my country.

The harmattan/ dry season for the past 3 years has not followed its regular pattern. In August 2006, the drought lasted really long as it was severe, to the point that the Black and White Volta Rivers nearly dried up. Several other rivers dried up in the forest areas, example the River Offin in the Ashanti region dropped to its lowest in almost a century. Ghana was caught up in an energy crisis, when the Volta River dropped about 41 feet below its regular level to a critical level. This meant that several energy dependent companies had to close down, according to the National Labor Department, approximately 33 companies filed for insolvency between September 2006 and March 2007 causing over 2300 workers to lose their jobs. The layoffs affected several families who were already struggling to make ends meet. Data Bank researchers (a financial research institution in Ghana) projected the energy crisis to cost Ghana about 1.4 billion US dollars. As a student in Ghana’s premier university, I suffered when one of my semester papers (French) was put on hold due to the lack of power to play the Oral tapes that semester. At night living conditions were unbearable since the temperature was high and we had no power to start the ceiling fans in a small room for four students. We had to do all our research in the day on some days and in the nights on other days since the Volta river authority had given us a timetable for electricity load shedding. It lasted for about 8 months. In those 8 months economic activity was badly affected, several hospitals which were not prepared for the situation had to move their patients to the two national Teaching Hospitals (Korle – Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra and the Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi) which were already overcrowded. A few patients had to be put in the verandas.
When it did rain in the last two weeks of August and the first week of September 2007 it was excessive in the northern, upper west and upper eastern parts of Ghana exceeding the usual records. The flooding in the North left 20 people dead and 400,000 people in some 592 communities badly affected, most of them lost their homes since a majority of the houses there are mud houses. Several villages were washed away. There was also flooding in some 10 communities in the western region of Ghana. The U.N had to come to the aid of Ghana otherwise the conditions would have been worse. As a student volunteer for the relief efforts in the northern region, I was devastated by the horrible scenes I encountered. Children in these communities were under shock and battling with cholera after the flood. A look in these already malnourished children’s eye could strike a tear in the eye of even the hard hearted
We have also been through periods of severe droughts and high temperatures which have led to food shortages and led to rural water shortages. There are several areas in the northern part of Ghana which have been rendered infertile due to Human activity that fuel bad weather. Flooding also has caused soil erosion which has affected the production of food crops in the forest areas. The Ghana Environmental Protection Agency has predicted that by 2080, cocoa beans will no longer grow and thrive in Ghana due to climate change. Most Ghanaians in the rural areas are subsistence farmers and with the recent bad weather and high temperatures most of them are being forced to starve due to a decline in crop yields. Most of these people survive on less than 1 dollar a day (so you can only imagine). The youth in the rural areas in Ghana have therefore exponentially increased their migration into the cities only to sell hair ribbons on the streets or at best, dog chains. One gentleman I interviewed said that before, it used to be good back home in his village but now, the weather conditions do not favor farming and therefore he was earning a very low income from farming as low as 15 cedis (12 dollars) in a month from the sale of the small yield he gathers. He has 3 children, a wife and an ageing mother to take care of back at home and therefore the least he could do was to look for a “better” job in the city. His translation of “better job” meant being a human porter of goods at the central market in Accra. At least he was making 15 cedis more than he was making back home. Not much improvement in his standard of living but an improvement nonetheless. There are millions of Ghanaians in the same situation. The prices of certain food stuffs have tripled in the last 2 years alone. Plantain, millet, maize and cassava which constitute the basic ingredients of almost all local dishes have increased significantly in price.

A SURVEY
A survey I undertook Thursday 5th of February this year, for the sake of the essay using a sample of 200 young men, who live in my community, brought forth the following results.
Q1 YES NO INDIFFERENT
*Does Climate change affect you? 96% 3% 1%
*Do you feel policy makers should consider climate change in Economic Policy? 89% 6% 5%
*Do you feel there’s adequate information circulation concerning climate change in Ghana? 12% 88% -
*Have you heard of the word “Carbon footprint” 3% 97% -
*Do You feel the Youth have a huge role in slowing down the pace of Climate Change? 94% 6% -
*Are you doing anything to ensure the Earth’s Survival as a young Person? 1% 99% -


The above data suggest that more young people in my community believe it’s up to them to slow down the pace of climate change but most of them are currently doing nothing to help slow down climate change. Most young Ghanaians including myself believe that the government is not really doing much to spread the information about climate change and how to slow down the process. The 138 districts in the nation have at one point or another recorded several incidents of bush fire caused by bad farming practices such as slash and burn, which not only leaves the land bare for soil erosion but destroys vegetation and also group hunting for hare and rabbits, where these farmers smoke them out with fire. From this sample, I believe that at least most of the youth in my community like most other young men in the nation believe the government and the youth need to collaborate to help save our nation and hence our lives. Information dissemination would therefore be made a major priority in this essay. Making people aware of the problem is solving the problem halfway.

The Practically green solutions-Community Level

Green Mutual Sector Fund

Indeed the generation of the green entrepreneur is already here with us at least in the advanced countries. In our part of the world, companies which go green either collapse through lack of solid financial base or are NGO funded. The idea of green industry doesn’t exist yet in Ghana primarily due to lack of private investment in the green sector.
The average person in Accra has heard of some form of investment. It is like the latest phenomenon to hit Ghana especially on our university campuses. For this reason, I believe myself and a couple of friends can start an open-ended (the number of shares will not be fixed) sector growth fund8. The targeted portfolio would be energy companies i.e. bio- diesel companies, clean and renewable energy technology firms, for example firms that deal in energy saver light bulbs, and renewable energy consultants. We would also invest in companies which sell agro-based, forestry products (seeds). In Accra for example there are quite a number of these firms in mushroom forms. I believe that by investing in these companies, we would give them the necessary liquid capital base to maintain and purchase new capital goods, advertise, and in the long run to expand. At the same time the share holders of the fund will be making steady interest on their investment. A back end-load9 will be deducted from the redemption price, at a rate which decreases progressively depending on how long the holder has had the shares. We would begin the fund from the university campuses and gradually spread out to the general public. To gain a lot of shareholders and to reduce the risk involved, a massive mass education will be carried out to inform the general public as to the importance of investing funds into these firms and the need to save our climate.

The Climatic Change Relief and Impact Center. (CCRIC)

I also believe that through the collaboration of myself, friends and the local assembly of my community this center can be made a possibility. Since climate change is here to stay I believe we might as well learn how to adapt to it. This centre will train young men in disaster response and refugee management and disaster simulation drills. In times of flooding for example instead of waiting for the National disaster management organization (NADMO) who might not arrive in time anyway, we could be proactive and save lives and property. Now I believe when the Local Assembly supports the idea, we can convince a lot of young men to volunteer for the program. The training would be done by NADMO officials on weekends. The center will also carry out sensitization programs for the less educated and elderly farmers. Some of them engage in bad farming practices that only end up increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, for example a majority practice slash and burn and don’t make fire belts before the process, the burning of the trees sends large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere and affects a large area of forest land and mostly evolve into bush fires. Some of these farmers, upon starting the bush fires fail to inform the district firemen for fear of victimization and leave the fire to spread. The centre will also organize durbars on certain holidays to teach members of the community on how to survive in times of climatic disasters and the need to inform the fire station or the youth of their community in case of bush fires. There will also be training on how to reduce health risks that normally follow disasters. Had this system been in place in the northern part of Ghana the casualties from the floods would have been less. Most communities in developing countries need to prepare for such climate disasters.

Green Revolution

Most of the trends that are “in Vogue” are created by the youth. In my community for example, if college students came back home from school with a particular hairstyle it would spread as fast as wildfire. Based on this, I believe that as a tertiary level student I could, with the help of my colleagues, spark a green revolution and collective action which may eventually spread to other parts of the country. Through this I hope to achieve the following:
The Green Scout Movement
I propose a Green scout movement fashioned after the Boy Scout movement, only this time the focus will be on the environment, climate change and how to slow down the process. This movement will target young men from the ages of 6 to 21. The movement will have three divisions. The first division will be the Green Prince, the second will be the Green Scout and the final division will be the Green Entrepreneur.
The Green Prince division will be made up of students (boys and girls) from primary school class 1 to class 5. This division will focus on bringing the ideas of greening the environment to the children and teaching them of the importance of clean climate activities. They will also be involved in camping programs. The kids would also be encouraged to participate in green oriented science fairs which we would organize. We will partner them with adults who will supervise them in the completion of these series of tasks. Upon completion of a task a prince will earn a badge of completion and a certificate of accomplishment. Now their attire will be a green shirt and shorts with a green neckerchief. They will advance as they learn more and perform more tasks. After class five however a scout will advance to the next stage which is Green Scouting. This level focuses on the role of the scout in campaigning about global warming and embarking on other green activities such as tree planting and training the members of their household to use energy efficiently and to reduce their carbon traces. After advancing through the various tasks involved in this stage, they will advance to the final stage which is the stage of the Green Entrepreneur by which stage a scout should be between 18 and 21. Here the scouts will be trained on how to become green entrepreneurs in the first stage and in the second stage; they will be challenged to create their own climate saving activity or project. Upon completion a scout would get a diploma in entrepreneurship.

The Community Recycling Initiative.

Here I believe that my friends and I can collect renewable items that people in my community would otherwise throw away, and group them into categories for recycling. Now we plan to put boxes at vantage points especially at the community center, and label these boxes. We will separate them into paper, rubber and metal recyclables. Items like cans, bottles, newspapers and cardboard will be collected. We would then take them to companies in the community who manufacture these goods for recycling. In order for this to be successful, a larger number of young men need to be put together. Individual homes will be rewarded for choosing to separate their garbage to make collection easy. If recycling is taken seriously, then we wouldn’t have to deplete the few trees we have left, since there would be raw materials in the form of recyclables. The problem of waste management would also be tackled through recycling.

Online green social networking

Social networking on the internet is very common these days among the youth. Most of the young men and women are either on “Facebook”, “Hi5”, “MySpace” or “clubghana”. Internet blogging is also very common in Ghana. We can establish the Ghana temperature Movement online as a group on “Facebook” .Members of the group can invite people in their friends’ network from other communities to join the group. On the group’s forum boards, members can share ideas as to how to tackle global warming and the problems we face in Ghana which are climate related. We will also send environmental messages to the inbox of our members inviting them to our programs and share environmental solutions with them. Members will also be encouraged to blog on the issue so the message can be spread faster. Because the modern Ghanaian youth is energy dependent we will also focus on household energy consumption and how to reduce the carbon footprints of our homes. Likewise groups like these can be formed on other social networking sites until we can create our own environmental social networking website for our community and beyond.

Inter-School Climate Change solutions fair

This fair will allow young men and women in my community to showcase their projects on renewable energy and effective energy conservation. With the help of my colleagues I believe this can be made possible. With expected sponsorship from local firms and the local Assembly, We will reward the best practical climate change solution project and promote it to the national level. Participating schools in my community will each year compete with four projects from each school. This fair would encourage the youth to research into ways of improving their lives and other alternate forms of energy.

Green solutions – National Level

Carbon Compensation Plan (CCP)

Companies such as those in the cement manufacturing companies contribute CO2 when calcium carbonate is heated alongside fossil fuels. According to Wikipedia, It is estimated that cement production is responsible for 5% of all global man-made CO2 emissions, 50% of which is from the chemical process, and about 40% from burning fuel. The cement industry is estimated to emit nearly 900 kg of Carbon Dioxide for every 1000 kg of cement produced. Developing countries like Ghana use cement extensively in their building processes.
On this level I believe that my friends and other college students can come together to push to policymakers what I call the Carbon Compensation Plan. This is where firms like the cement manufacturers whose activities directly affect the environment will be forced to pay an exclusive compensating tax to the government. Revenue from this tax will be used in providing free energy saving light bulbs for homes which can’t afford to switch all their light bulbs to energy savers. Also the revenue can be used to finance tree planting exercises and renewable energy research which is not well funded in Ghana. These companies will also be required to plant a quantity of trees annually for as long as they operate in the country. In addition I believe that the government can place an importation tax on high carbon goods.
National Pre-college environmental service
In Ghana, from Senior High School, students stay home for about 10 months before they enter into a tertiary institution. The plan is to campaign for policymakers to engage these students in climate oriented service before they enter into college. Policymakers can make sure that community service will count towards a student’s admission requirements. These young men and women will be trained for three months and afterwards will be required to do a field work in their respective districts, such as community sensitization against deforestation for livestock grazing and discouraging of the slash and burn practice which normally leads to bush fires in some districts. They will also carry out water projects in water-stressed10 rural communities and as part of their field work each student should plant at least two trees in his assigned community. A certificate of community service will be provided to them upon completion of the service. Some students who show higher intellectual ability in their secondary schools can be drawn into research on how to convert the large tracts of infertile land in the northern part of Ghana into arable land.
A day should be set aside by the government to honor the young men and women for their outstanding service in this climatic venture.
Proposed Ideas for international Organizations- International level
Of course not all the ideas I have can be carried out by the youth alone. There are those that international stakeholders have the strength to carry out.
The World Bank Group which has affiliated institutions such as, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), International Development Association (IDA), International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) could also add a new environmental finance institution to their group since they have shown passion about the topic through this essay competition. The World Bank also helped to establish the Carbon partnership and the Forest carbon partnership facility all of which promote clean energy ventures. The bank has employed Carbon Finance programs which I believe could be managed by a new institution to ensure efficiency.
I propose the International Climate Investment Bank (ICLIB) - Which would invest in both private and public enterprises that are working in the field of renewable energy and efficient energy conservation. This World Bank Institution would also bind its members to include climate change in their domestic economic policies and encourage green solutions through dialogues. The institution would also provide support for research into climate change. The institution will also sponsor conferences and organize workshops on the topic for member nations. Members will be tasked to buy a minimum number of shares of the capital stock of the bank not according to the size of their economy but by their level of climate pollution. The operational funds of the bank will be raised through sales of interest bearing bonds and the issuance of notes in the world’s capital markets. This will free the other affiliate institutions to focus on their specialized programs.

World Forestry Reserve Heritage sites

Unlike the UNESCO’s world Heritage site, this program will involve every member of the United Nation. Every member of the UN will be charged to reserve a portion of their forest lands which will be managed by a joint team of the local government and the United Nations Environment program. The proportions of the site will depend on the size of the country and their population distribution. There will be emphasis placed on the preservation of rainforests such as the Amazon jungle and the Congo rainforest. Once the site is chosen it would become an international property. Now this site can be separate from national reserves. A convention will bind all the signatories to protect and maintain these properties for future generations and to ensure the sustenance of the earth.

Conclusion

We should act immediately! For as Confucius in the Confucian analects once said of a superior man "He acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his actions." We could talk about climate change for years and not live to meet eternity. We owe it to ourselves as the youth to do our part to save our own lives. To work together wherever possible to change the direction of climate change into our direction of peace love and sustainable development. Our choices today may write our dirge or our lyrics of survival tomorrow.