Glasgow (Scotland, UK), Oct. 31, GNA – The 26th Session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) opened in the Scottish City of Glasgow, being attended by over 30, 000 delegates and some125 heads of states.
The Conference is being held amidst strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols, as delegates are mandated to take a coronavirus lateral flow test everyday of the two-week meeting and show the results to security personnel before allowed to enter the main event centre.
The organisation of the annual events was called off in the heat of the pandemic in the year 2020.
Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, will join the conference on Monday and deliver a statement on Ghana’s Position climate change as well as measures put in place to combat the threat it poses.
The President will also deliver separate messages on the country’s effort at protecting its forests and ocean and also participate in the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Summit being held on the side-lines of COP26.
Meanwhile, at the opening of the COP, Madam Patricia Espinosa, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, stated that the devastating loss of lives and livelihoods in the course of this year due to extreme weather events “clarifies how important it is to convene COP26 despite the impacts of the pandemic still being felt.
“We are on track for a global temperature rise of 2.7C, while we should be heading for the 1.5C goal. Clearly, we are in a climate emergency. Clearly, we need to address it. Clearly, we need to support the most vulnerable to cope,” she said.
Addressing the conference, COP President, Mr Alok Sharma, thanked delegates for travelling to Glasgow as he outlined the urgent need for action.
“As COP President I am committed to promoting transparency and inclusivity. And I will lead this conference in accordance with the draft rules of procedure, and with the utmost respect for the party-driven nature of our process,” he said.
“In that spirit I believe we can resolve the outstanding issues. We can move the negotiations forward. We can launch a decade of ever-increasing ambition and action.
“Together, we can seize the enormous opportunities for green growth, for good green jobs, for cheaper, cleaner power. But we must hit the ground running to develop the solutions we need. And that work starts today. We will succeed, or fail, as one.”
Other highlights of the COP, will be the World Leaders Summit with the presence of Royalty and more than 100 Heads of State and Government.
Also in attendance are contingents of Ghanaian negotiators and experts from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), headed by Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu, Executive Director, and other officials of the Ministries of Environment, Energy, Lands and Natural Resources.
GNA