Accra, July 29, GNA – Professor Bob Offei Manteaw, a climate expert with the University of Ghana Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Studies, has urged stronger local capacity to implement climate adaptation plans amid rising climate risks.
He said recent flooding and landslides highlighted the urgency of moving from climate planning to implementation through stronger institutions, effective coordination and adequate resources.
Prof. Manteaw made the call at a climate action workshop for eight Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Tema.
“It is critically important that subnational level governments take responsibility by showing leadership in transitioning adaptation plans into implementation,” he said.
The workshop, organised by the Tema Metropolitan Assembly with support from the Strengthening Investments in Gender-Responsive Climate Adaptation (SIGRA) programme, the Environmental Protection Agency and C40 Cities, brought together representatives from Tema, Sekondi-Takoradi, Cape Coast, Akatsi North, Nanumba South, Kumbungu and Mion.
The participating assemblies committed to implementing district-specific climate adaptation plans under Ghana’s National Adaptation Planning (NAP) process.
Prof. Manteaw, who served as the lead consultant for Ghana’s National Adaptation Plan, said district-level climate risk and vulnerability assessments undertaken by his team had identified many of the hazards now affecting communities.
Referring to recent flooding in Accra and landslides in Cape Coast, he said those assessments had informed the country’s National Adaptation Plan.
“My team and I were responsible for all, if not most of the district level adaptation planning in the country,” he said, adding that current climate-related disasters were only a preview of worse to come.
Prof. Manteaw said implementing adaptation plans would require sustained financing, institutional strengthening and technical capacity, noting that many MMMDA’s were not yet adequately equipped to lead the process independently.
He identified coastal municipalities, including Tema, Keta, Cape Coast and Sekondi-Takoradi, as among the areas most exposed to sea level rise and flooding.
Prof. Manteaw said climate-sensitive sectors within districts and municipalities could either increase or reduce local vulnerability depending on how they were managed.
He said his team remained available to support Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies through training, technical assistance and efforts to access domestic and international climate finance.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
29 July 2026
Reporter: Albert Oppong Ansah
Email: [email protected]