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The ICC Ghana Secretary General, Mr Emmanuel Doni-Kwame has emphasized the need for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to invest in climate change strategies. He said that most products have been developed over the years to address certain needs. For example, the use of pure water sachets is in response to the idea that water collected in transparent polythene locally referred to as "iced-water" were unhygienic. He added that the use of sachet water however, now referred to as "pure water", is affecting the environment.
These remarks were made at a sensitization workshop organised by the Ghana International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Ghana) and Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC ) Fund to create awareness on strategies that SMEs can adopt with regards to coping with climate change.
Mr Doni-Kwame said that SMEs can invest in the recycling of sachets for example if they are educated on how they can deliberately separate plastic waste. He urged companies to provide separate bins for waste and also offer incentives for small businesses to collect plastics for re-use and recycling.
He said that the ban on plastics should be done gradually in order to give businesses enough time to diversify before the deadline. "Whether we like it or not, nature will always pay back for the pollution we create, weather patterns are changing, creating a lot of chaos" he said.
He added that everyone is affected by issues of climate change hence the need for collaborative efforts to address. He said that businesses need to establish strategies that will help them survive. He also urged government to make available research results from climate change researches to help businesses come out with alternative solutions that will save the environment.
Highlights on a research conducted into SMEs' awareness of climate change showed that more of them are aware of climate change and climate change variability. Their main sources of information was media platforms and agricultural extension officers.
The findings however, suggested that government and non-governmental agencies should provide support in the form of guidance, information and external support for businesses as well as investment in afforestation projects in communities. They also need support on improvement of efficient use of water for irrigation and development of local technology to aid businesses cope with climate change.
Present at the workshop which was held at the Coconut Groove Regency Hotel in Accra, were the Acting Chairman of ICC Ghana, Mr Kwaku Eshun and a representative from the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.
