Heeding to the global call of promoting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 with a focus to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts on the environment, the students of the Ghanata Senior High School have been empowered at the launch of the EcoClub 360 to find long-lasting solutions to the current global climate crisis by acting locally to effect a positive change.
In a welcome remark by Mrs Alberta Grace Agyei, the Assistant Headmistress in charge of Administration, at Ghanata Senior High School, she emphasized that climate change has become a pressing issue on the global platform and the goal of the EcoClub 360 is properly situated to help the students in skills and knowledge to confront this menace and Ghanata SHS ready to lead the way.
Also, she said ‘’It is our joy and pleasure to host the first inauguration of EcoClub 360 in Ghanata SHS and I wish to thank Madam Patience Ahiabor, the founder and visionary of the EcoClub 360 and the Shai Osudoku District Education Directorate.
The chairman at the launch, Prof. Mawuli Dzodzomenyo, also the steering committee chairman for EcoClub 360 in a statement said, the EcoClub 360 initiative is targeted at inspiring the youth to take collective action for climate change, environmental Pollution, and biodiversity and to nurture a sense of responsibility towards the environment. This he noted is because young people are the future leaders and though they may not be directly responsible for the damage caused to the environment, their activism can result in a positive change that we all hope to see in coming years.
Speaking at the launch of the EcoClub 360, Madam Harriet Lomotey, the Shai Osudoku District Director of Education, reiterated that the directorate embraces the EcoClub 360 initiative which would be replicated across all schools and believes it is a timely intervention as environmental challenges have become a serious issue worldwide due to increasing damage caused by climate change.
She further noted ‘’it is, for this reason, we need a broader awareness of the importance to defend and uphold the environment, therefore nurturing the young one’s on positive climate actions would go a long way to promote change in our communities since these students will act as agents of change in their localities’’.
Patience Ahiabor, the Founder of EcoClub 360 in her address, noted that the environment plays a crucial role in maintaining the health and balance of ecosystems, providing essential services such as clean air and climate regulations. However, our environments are being degraded quickly through deforestation, pollution, unregulated mining, and lumbering and if not well protected and properly managed, generations after us will suffer the dire impacts. She said according to the UN Environment Programme, the future is uncertain for children, youth, and future generations who experts recognize as the most vulnerable group to the impact of climate change, therefore the inspiration to establish the EcoClub 360.
EcoClub 360 is a transformational environmental NGO with the primary goal of empowering young people, especially students in secondary and basic schools in Ghana and Africa, with knowledge and skills to undertake responsible environmental activities and projects that promote positive behaviors towards the environment with a focus on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 13.
