Youth groups receive US$50,000 to combat climate change

By Elizabeth PUNSU, Kumasi

14 youth groups have been presented with cheques for US$50,000 as part of Bloomberg Philanthropies Youth Climate Action Fund, in partnership with the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA).

The fund is to support talented young residents in groups aged 15-24 with their innovative proposals to address the climate change crisis in the metropolis.
The fund aims to equip 100 mayors worldwide with necessary resources to develop and implement urgent climate solutions in their respective cities across 38 countries in six continents, representing over 62 million residents.

The groups also received certificates authorising them to carry out their climate actions in the areas of operation.

Speaking briefly at a ceremony to present the cheques and certificates at the KMA conference hall, Sam Pyne, KMA boss, urged the beneficiary groups to make judicious use of the funds to increase their chance of securing more funds in the future.

“I urge the 14 selected groups to use the funds allocated to carry out their action plans well, so as to ensure that we can secure a further boost of US$150,000 when their work is given the all-clear by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ evaluation team,” the KMA boss said.

Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning and Chairman-Select Committee on Youth in Climate Action, Professor Prince Aboagye Anokye explained that the beneficiary groups were carefully scrutinised before selection.

According to him, the committee used criteria set out by Bloomberg Philanthropies Youth Climate Action Fund to scrutinise the several applications it received.

He noted that subsequent reviews of the applications and in-person interviews were conducted before a final determination was arrived at.

“You’ve been selected based on the interesting and forward-looking climate action proposals you presented to the committee, and I urge you to go out there and utilise the funds you’ve received to bring out impactful outcomes,” Prof. Anokye intimated.

Leader of Sustainere, one of the beneficiary groups, Joseph Quaicoe told journalists that his group’s proposal is to ensure they plant trees at some locations in the Kumasi metropolis and monitor the same to ensure they grow to positively influence those areas’ climate.

“We have a plan to make the trees we intend planting grow to our expectation, so they can affect the kind of air residents breathe in those communities,” Mr. Quaicoe said.

Leader of Earth Guardians Group, Rodeline Adwoa Saah Asare Darko, stressed her team’s determination to teach the proper way of waste segregation and sorting.

“We believe that getting it right with the way we segregate our waste before it is disposed of could help us achieve good environments, which would positively impact the climate in our communities,” Ms. Asare Darko said.

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