MDAs need to share knowledge to tackle climate change — UN Director

The Director of the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA), Dr Fatima Denton, has called for the strengthening of collaboration and knowledge sharing between ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to holistically roll out comprehensive strategies to deal with the climate crisis. 

Dr Denton said given that the climate crisis had a cross-cutting impact on all sectors, policies and strategies aimed at tackling the menace must not be implemented in silos because such an approach would make a minimal impact.

"Climate change has dire consequences on health, agriculture, the environment, gender and other sectors, so in developing strategies and implementing policies, it is crucial that all these sectors are looked at; and this is why the policy makers from all these sectors need to be knowledgeable about Climate Change issues," she said.

She was speaking at the opening session of the maiden course on natural resource management leadership for West African countries in Accra yesterday (October 21).

Nature Leads course

Organised by the UNU-INRA in collaboration with the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, the course, dubbed: “Nature Leads,” drew 20 participants from four Anglophone West African countries, namely Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone. 

The course is meant to build the capacity of the participants on the interaction between climate change and natural resources, with the view to building resilience against the crisis.

The primary objective of the course is to equip the related MDAs with hands-on knowledge and deep understanding of the ways in which efficient natural resource management can facilitate Africa’s progress and propel its transition.

Africa’s peculiar situation

Dr Fatima said there was the increasing need for West African countries to strengthen collaboration for climate action because while conflicts in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Niger and Burkina Faso had caused immense suffering, displacing millions and straining economies and political relations, the climate crisis was also causing more frequent natural disasters.

She added that robust strategies for climate action were crucial given that the growing population of Africa presented further challenges, as it demanded sustainable food systems, clean water and energy. 

FSI collaboration

The Director of FSI, Peter Taylor, said following the inauguration of the institute last year, it had become necessary to provide professional training in critical areas such as international affairs, climate change and natural resource management.

He said such a move would create opportunities for diplomats and public officials to enhance their skills locally, especially in the area of climate change which had become a global crisis.

He said it was in that regard that the PSI had collaborated with UNU-INRA on the training course related to climate change. 

“Climate and diplomacy intersect in several ways, and the training will help make these intersections of security, negotiation, trade and economy evident,” he said.

Government’s commitment

In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, said the Nature Leads course was a reaffirmation of the ministry’s dedication to promoting regional integration and sustainable development.

The speech, which was read by a former ambassador to Norway, Jennifer Lartey, said the course would promote the development of nature-positive economic pathways to advance Africa’s sustainable future.

She said the course was timely because although natural resources were the bedrock of many African economies, significantly influencing trade, development and foreign direct investment, climate change posed an increasing threat to those resources, thereby endangering the economic and environmental security on the continent.

“One of the challenges we face is finding a balance between the extraction of natural resources while protecting natural resources and biophysical ecosystems and managing the risks posed by climate change,” she said.

The minister also said effective natural resource management strategies would be pivotal for driving economic growth, enhancing livelihoods and building resilient socio-ecosystems.