The Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has charged queen mothers in the country to join the call of putting in place comprehensive and viable plans to cater for the transition from fossil fuels to renewables.
The minister noted that as traditional leaders, they are in better and strategic positions to advocate on the awareness of the effects of the use of wood fuels and charcoals on humans and environments.
Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh made the call when the Ministry of Energy met the National Association of Queen Mothers in a stakeholder engagement at the National House of Chiefs in Kumasi on Monday, May 30, 2022.
The engagement was to inform the participants on the National Energy Transition Plan, and to offer an opportunity to gather information to assess the current situation in the energy sector, the benefits, risks and cost of global energy transition and to prescribe risk mitigation measures among others.
It was on the theme ‘Moving Ghana Towards A Net-Zero Future’, and was chaired by the president of the Central Regional House of chiefs, Odeefuo Amoakwa Buadu VIII.
“Most cooking in the country is done with wood fuels and charcoals and are causing so many problems to the humans and environments…so there is the need for the whole world to be awakened that these activities are affecting all of us,” Dr Opoku Prempeh stated.
“The sea erosion in the south, desertification in the north, change in rainfall pattern in the middle belt are all due to global warming, so we are here to share knowledge and make you (queen mothers) advocates of awareness of the effects of some of these activities that we create,” he added.
Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who is also the MP for Manhyia South constituency, called on all individuals to adopt activities that could reduce the global warming.
“We cannot eliminate cars on the roads, but we can use electrical vehicles, we cannot use air-conditioners but we can use solar-powered air-conditioners, we cannot eliminate cooking from the kitchens but we can do cook stoves….so everybody is being called upon to contribute to mitigating to the effects of these activities,” he said.
The Deputy Transport Minister, Hon Frederick Obeng Adom, who represented the Transport Ministry, said the government is planning and preparing towards embracing the usage of electronic vehicles in Ghana.
He said “that will serve as an important leverage that will set the tone for the gradual de-carbonization of the road transport industry.”
The chairman of the occasion, Odeefuo Amoakwa Buadu VIII, in his speech, entreated the queen mothers to use the information and knowledge gathered to contribute meaningfully to ensure that the policy will be implemented for the benefit of the country.
Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com
