The
Scenario
Imagine you’re
fast asleep in the dead of the night, and then suddenly you’re awakened by a
persistent terrifying indescribable noise.
You sit up on your bed trying to figure out what that thing is. But before you’re able to fully discern what
is happening, the thing is already upon you – your bed is filled water and it
is rising, “but it’s not raining” you say to yourself – “oh it’s the sea, it’s angry and lasing at us,” the words of
your grandfather comes to mind as you come to terms with reality. Now you’re fully awake and hear the clamour of
neighbours as they flee their rooms for dear lives. You dash out of bed and
join them as they scuttle to safety from the raging tidal waves that had come
upon the community without warning in the deep of the night.
This
has from time to time been the fate of some of Ghana’s coastal communities such
as Glefe near Dansoman and Totope near Ada.
Totepe’s nightmarish experience has been the most recent – occurring
some time last year. Their house, beddings, furniture, clothing and other
personal effects were completely destroyed by the siege. Afterwards, they tried in vain to salvage
what they could from what had now become rubbish. They spent a number of days to clear the sand
from their rooms. In some instances,
families had to re-roof their buildings and in addition to buying new furniture.
Glefe
has also had its share of such attacks.
The two communities have similar stories like that of Keta, whose is the
most prominent – where these communities are currently located used to be let’s
just say the hinterlands of the communities.
Infact, community members will tell you that the original Glefe, Totope
or Keta are now miles away in the sea.
But
Ghana’s coastal communities are not alone in this battle for survival. From Nigeria to Sao Tome and Principe,
coastal communities are now at the mercy of the sea. The local community of the Alpha Beach in
Lagos, Nigeria is languishing. As at
September 2011, the chief of the area was worried about where he will be buried
when he dies, because their cemetery had been washed away by tidal waves. Indeed, coastal communities worldwide are now
no longer at ease. Remember, the
devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans in the USA?
It’s
Climate Change
Scientists ascribe
what is happening to these coastal communities to rising sea levels due to
climate change. The phenomenon is
undeniably one of the most serious and engaging global problems facing humanity
in modern times. The world has only recently comprehended climate change as an
immediate threat to the continued success of society. Climate includes the
patterns of temperature, rainfall, humidity, winds and seasons. Climate change
therefore has to do with more than just a change in the weather, and involves
seasonal changes over a long period of time that play fundamental roles in
shaping natural ecosystems, the human economies and cultures that depend on
them.
The
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has defined
climate change as a change of climate, which is attributed directly or
indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of global atmosphere
and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over
considerable time periods.
Thus, climate change refers to any change in climate
over a period of time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of
human activity. The
change is basically as a result of rapid global warming, which scientists say
is due to the emission of dangerous substances known as “green house gases”
(GHG) from mainly human activities such as exploitation of ecosystems including
forests and wetlands; land use forms; agricultural practices and livelihood
patterns.
It’s a Development Issue
Climate
change is evident by increasing and intense heat waves, storms, floods,
droughts, erratic rainfall patterns, water scarcity and sea level rise. It
affects every sector of development including agriculture and food production,
water resources, forestry and wildlife resources, health, energy and
transportation.
Dr.
Delali Dovie, a Scientist with African Adaptation Research Centre, Regional
Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, notes that
“climate change influences the capacity and well being of humanity and society
through interactions with the various life support systems of the mankind.”
These life support systems include water resources, hydropower generation,
ecosystems, biodiversity, agricultural production and coastal zones. Dr. Dovie conclusion
based on an assessment of these interactions is that climate change impacts
lead to food insecurity, hunger, malnutrition, poverty, migration and social
conflicts. And all of these culminate in
under development.
The
World Bank and United Nations as well as other international organisations
agree that Africa will be worst hit by Climate Change, because they are the
most vulnerable and least prepared to adapt to the changes, being already
overwhelmed with poverty and food security challenges among other things.
Ghana’s
Economy is Climate Change Sensitive
A study by the
writer established Ghana as one of the African countries whose economy is
recognised to be highly sensitive to climate change and climate variability,
which are considered to be hampering the attainment of national development
goals. The study titled: “Climate Change Communication and Impact in Affected
Local Communities: A Case Study of the Glefe Coastal Community near Dansoman in
Accra,” sought to address the issue of how to make climate change information
relevant, available and accessible to affected local communities.
Citing
documents such as the Policy Advisory Series on Climate Change in Ghana (2011)
and Ghana’s Climate Change Technological Needs Assessment Report (2003), the
study also established that the country is vulnerable to climate change because
its economy is heavily dependent on climate sensitive sectors – like
agriculture, fisheries, tourism and forestry. Ghana is particularly vulnerable
to climate change due to lack of capacity to undertake adaptive measures to
address associated environmental problems and socio-economic costs. What is
even worrying is that 80 percent of disasters in the country are climate
related according to a fact sheet prepared by the Japanese Government funded
and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) initiative “African Adaptation
Programme – Ghana.”
Why
Communicate Climate Change?
For these reasons and
more, climate change and its related
issues including what it is, its impacts and how to address associated problems
should be adequately and appropriately communicated to affected communities and
indeed the general Ghanaian populace, in order to empower them to either
mitigate or adapt to the phenomenon.
While,
affected local communities have observed climate related events in their
environments over the years, the causes of the phenomenon is communicated to
them. In her interactions with residents
of the Glefe community, the writer gathered that some of the people have over
15 years now witnessed events like rising sea level, increasing heat and rain
storms. They attribute these events to
the act of God or to the anger of the gods, who must be pacified in order to
restore the situation to normal.
However,
the foregoing indicates that climate change is the result of both human
activities and naturally occurring variability. Once such understanding is reached,
people will first of all appreciate that some of their actions do contribute to
climate change. Secondly, they will
become aware of the need to make amends and thirdly, they will initiate the
required actions.
This
process is not automatic, as the study confirmed that mere dissemination of
climate change information does not necessarily mean people will appreciate the
issues. For example, while a significant proportion of the Glefe had heard
about climate change, majority of them did not actually understand what it is
all about, nor did they appreciate pertinent related issues of mitigation and
adaptation. This is because climate change knowledge sharing approaches have
frequently failed to engage vulnerable communities in ways that address
barriers presented by technology, language, and power relations.
Conclusion
Findings of the
study suggested that climate change communication has often not yielded the
desired results because, the approaches have failed to link with the existing
channels of communication that communities rely on; and further failed to build
upon ongoing activities and social spheres of vulnerable groups. This implies
that though information dissemination is on-going, there is no impact from it.
However,
notwithstanding such inadequacies in the climate change communication process,
any information on the subject is worth disseminating to people. This is because understanding, appreciation
and positive action start from the little bits of information that people
gather from time to time. For instance if people in affected communities know
and understand how vulnerable they are to climate change events, they might be
willing to relocate to safer areas.
This does not in
anywise suggest that communicating climate change information alone is a magic
wand – no, but fact is, climate change communication is a precursor to either
mitigating or adapting to the phenomenon.
Such communication must be linked to functioning early warning systems
coordinated by well equipped institutions.
(This item has already been published in the Ghanaian Times and Public Agenda)
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