President Akufo-Addo leads charge for climate-vulnerable countries

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has made a strong case to developed and worst-polluter countries to support climate-vulnerable Pacific Island countries, whose vulnerability has been disproportionate to their contribution to global pollution. 

“The world is facing seismic changes, and nowhere is this more evident than in the Pacific Island countries,” he said at a forum of regional leaders in Tonga in the Pacific Islands in an address read on his behalf by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.

“The devastating effects of climate change can be clearly seen in your beautiful islands,” President Akufo-Addo said at the 53rd Pacific Islands Leaders Forum held in Huku’alofa, the island capital of Tonga.

The phrase “seismic changes” and similar imagery invoked by speakers, among them the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Gutierrez, took on a vivid meaning when an earthquake measuring 6.9 struck Huku’alofa, sending participants scrambling out of the main indoor stadium where the opening ceremony had taken place while heavy overhead fixtures swung wildly.

No fatalities or harm was reported. 

President Akufo-Addo said as Chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), he was “acutely aware that it is past time now for the international community to step up and play its part.”

Ghana is Chair of the CVF which brings together 68 of the countries most highly threatened by climate change in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific.

He asked developed countries to take comprehensive action to address the systemic vulnerabilities of  Tonga. 

Rising sea level

With sea levels rising as a result of global warming, several islands face an existential threat.  

For instance, none of Kiribati’s 33 far-flung islands stands higher than four metres above sea level, a situation that causes apprehension for their 131,000 citizens.

Last week’s earthquake in Tonga was a reminder of the tsunami which struck the island kingdom two years ago, leaving the country’s limited communications infrastructure in ruins, while food and clean water were unavailable for days.

An estimated $1 billion is needed for the immediate climate financing needs of the region.

That constitutes a significant chunk of their economic output which President Akufo-Addo said could not be left for affected countries alone to fund. 

Over the medium to long term, he pointed out, countries in this region required debt restructuring or debt relief, and a new arrangement to access concessionary finance and aid.

He called for support for the 2022 Bridgetown Initiative for the Reform of the Global Financial Architecture, geared at tackling the unique threats that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and small coastal states face.

Ghana has been vociferous that the Paris Climate Agreement be fully implemented, with the necessary financial support for developing countries to enable them to mitigate the economic impact of implementing the agreement’s targets.

“Ghana is committed to your comprehensive fight for resilience. We share not just the vulnerabilities you face,” President Akufo-Addo said, “your success would be the success of the entire globe. We are in this together”.

“Building the economic resilience of developing countries and SIDS, in particular, is the imperative of our time,” he said.

Ms Botchwey, on behalf of the President, made similar calls at the fourth SIDS Conference in Antigua in May, and in bilateral engagements with Commonwealth leaders.