Ghana's capital continue to remain vulnerable to the adverse effects of changing weather pattern and as a result of Climate Change.
As a result, stakeholders have met to deliberate on concrete steps to make the city resilient.
One of the effects, perennial flooding and its solution is a topical issue the participants of the 7th International Climate Change and Population Conference on Africa (CCPOP)-Ghana, made up of scientists, development partners, students, political leaders, city authorities and the media would find answers to over the next three days.
The conference is being organised by the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), University of Ghana with the assistance of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly on the theme, "Transforming Cities' Resilience to Climate Change".
Speaking at the opening of the conference, Madam Cecilia Dapaah, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources said the impacts of climate change could reverse entire development as it had become the most important threat to human security with impacts on agriculture, energy, health, transportation, water, food security, etc.
She noted that climate change had 'literally put everything out of gear', and that the situation could be addressed through effective planning.
"The meteorological agency can predict some rains, but cannot forecast flooding... What we need to do as a society is to protect property, and lives especially the women and children", she added.
The Minister called for the need to formulate an effective plan as well as deploy early systems warning early to enable the vulnerable adapt to these effects.
Madam Sabine Nolke, Acting High Commission of Canada to Ghana stated that Climate Change was one of the greatest challenges facing humanity and that Canadian International assistance project seeks to minimise the negative environmental impact and improve environmental sustainability.
She noted that Canada's "Modernising Agriculture in Ghana" project was providing the government of Ghana with $ 125 million in direct sector budget support to develop a more modern inclusive and sustainable sector.
Madam Nolke said it included; transfer of knowledge on best practices, climate smart agriculture to farmer most of who were women.
Mr Yaw Oppong Boadi, the National Focal Person for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) said an implementation plan of the Nationally Determine Contributions (NDCs)was developed and was yet to receive parliamentary approval.
The NDCs are at the heart of the 2015 Paris Agreement that embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change, which set out the actions that countries plan to undertake to achieve the agreement's objectives, focused on limiting the rise in average global temperatures to well below two degree Celsius, and ideally, to 1.5 degree Celsius.
Mr Boadi said a Ghanaian delegation would participate in the 25th UNFCC conference in Madrid Spain to join other parties to negotiate especially on issues on adaptation.
Professor Joseph Yaro, Director, Regional Institute for Population Studies at the University of Ghana said the existence of human depended on the environment and called for pragmatic steps to preserve nature.
In the past 10 years, the world especially Ghana, he said would not be lamenting about the adverse effects of climate change affecting all the sectors of the economy, if adequate steps were taken in the past to build resilience to contain the impact.