Yesterday, January 26, was a crucial day in the lives of humanity, as it marked the observance of the International Day of Clean Energy.
This is a day set aside by the United Nations to raise awareness and mobilise global action for a just and inclusive renewable energy for the benefit of the people, and the planet on which humankind’s life depends.
In fact, energy is very crucial and key to economic growth and sustainable societies.
However, energy production is an albatross on society as it contributes to global warming, accounting to roughly two-thirds of human-induced greenhouse gas emission.
Consequently, there are plans towards transition to a sustainable energy for a cleaner future that will protect the environment and livelihoods and well-being of society.
According to the literature, clean energy is crucial to supporting underserved communities that are lagging behind in access to reliable power supply.
Statistics published in 2015 showed that 1.3 billion people lacked access to electricity and out of the number, 675 million lived in sub-Saharan Africa.
The United Nations (UN) says today, 685 million people live in the dark with more than 80 per cent of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
Though the UN agrees that the situation is improving, it says if the current trends continue, in the next six years around 1.8 billion people will still be using unsafe, unhealthy and inefficient cooking systems, which will make it difficult for the world to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), which aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030.
Definitely, the connection between clean energy on one hand and socio-economic development, and environmental sustainability on the other calls for urgent action.
It is worthy of note that the lack of reliable power hinders education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, yet sub-Saharan Africans continue to rely on polluting fossil fuels for their daily life, perpetuating poverty.
The global conversation is that the renewable energy sources, such as sun, wind, water, waste and heat from the earth, are in abundance and are easily replenished by nature.
And very significantly, they either emit little or no greenhouse gas or pollutants into the air.
It is against this background that we associate ourselves with the International Day of Clean Energy and the philosophy behind observing it.
We at The Ghanaian Times commend the Member of Parliament for Manso Nkwanta, Mr Tweneboa Kodua Fokuo, for elevating the conversation on the need for the country to prioritise clean energy and transitioning to it in a speedy manner.
We associate with the MP’s call to end the over-reliance on fossil fuel and invest in alternative sources of energy that are clean, accessible, affordable, sustainable and reliable.
We cannot agree with him more when he says “Renewable energy is the future, and Ghana should not be left behind. We must act now to save energy costs, improve public health, and reduce global warming while safeguarding our planet for future generations.”
It is also refreshing to note that the government is committed to fast-tracking the transition to clean energy, and in demonstrating its unwavering commitment to a clean-energy society, it has realigned the Ministry of Energy to the Green Transition, to implement policies to see Ghana transition seamlessly to a cleaner and sustainable society.
We at The Ghanaian Times are glad to know that the government has set up a new Ministry of Climate Change and Sustainability, ostensibly to formulate and implement sound policies, plans, programmes and regulatory framework to address the global effects of climate change and weather variability on the country.
We have learnt that the most effective solution to the fight against climate change is the transition to clean energy, since fossil fuels are the single biggest contributor to the climate change crisis.
Once again, The Ghanaian Times associates with the auspicious occasion and we call for concerted efforts in the transition to clean energy for the benefit of humanity and the planet.