The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) in collaboration with C40 Cities, a climate leadership group has organised a two-day Climate Action Implementation (CAI) workshop for its internal and external stakeholders in the metropolis. The workshop was to deliberate and discuss pertinent issues on renewable energy, energy usage, emission reduction and capacity building to efficiently manage and contribute to mitigating climate change in Accra. Mr Samuel Amponsah Adjei, the Director of Administration at the AMA, who delivered a speech on behalf of the Coordinating Director of the Assembly, Mr Douglas N.K Annoful gave detailed information on events leading to the CAI programme. He said; ‘Somewhere last year C40 Cities signed AMA onto their CAI programme. As part of the programme, three options were given. AMA would choose one action from waste within the Climate Action Plan (CAP) of the AMA, choose another action on energy and building, and mainstream an action plan on its processes and ways of doing things.’ ‘AMA chose the second one on energy. As part of the CAP, AMA chose to implement a green building programme by conducting an energy audit on some of the selected buildings of AMA, piloting a renewable energy penetration in the City of Accra,’ Mr Adjei stated. He said the main objective of this programme was to help reduce carbon emissions. C40 procured a consultant to conduct gaps and need assessment and conduct energy audits on some of the selected buildings. He explained that as part of efforts to implement the CAI programme and to track energy consumption, C40 cities together with AMA procured a consultant from DDT Energy Limited to conduct gaps and needs assessment and energy audits on some selected buildings in Accra. Mr Lawrence Musey, the lead consultant for DDT Energy Limited, in a presentation on findings, said that energy usage in Accra was on the rise based on neglect from residents to regulate energy in their households, unavailability of solar over systems, faulty gadgets, and lack of maintenance of electronic gadgets. He recommended policy restructuring at all levels of leadership for effective energy management, implementation of an Energy Management System to support energy management in its operation as well as implementation of a programme of regular capacity building for facility managers and operators to support energy management and the development of ER/RE project. Mr Evans Asamoah Adjei, the City Advisor for CAI, C40 Cities, said the green building programme implemented by the AMA was targeted at reducing the amount of energy usage in the construction of buildings while making it environmentally friendly and charged stakeholders in the construction sector to adopt best practices in employing different styles and designs to promote the green project. He contended that efficient management practices were a major problem in Accra since most residents had low regard towards energy management and called for capacity building and the adoption of best practices to ensure the usage of energy in its right proportion. Madam Shea O’Neil, Project Manager for COMSSA Ghana, said she was looking forward to the collaboration with the AMA and C40 cities and was ready to support in adopting the most suitable energy source whether solar or renewable energy for the city. Madam Elizabeth Mwango, Technical Advisor, Energy-CAI Africa Region said she expected strategies and implementations on energy usage and consumption discussed at the workshop to have a significant effect towards curbing climate issues in Accra.
Source: Ghana News Agency