Stakeholders at a day's engagement workshop on climate justice in the Greater Accra Region (GAR) urged partners to collaborate to achieve total results.

They said adaptation was key in dealing with climate change to save lives and properties.

Faith-based Civil Society Organisations were also tasked to help churches to package practical messages on climate change adaptation.

The programme was organised by the Presbyterian Relief Services and Development (PRS&D) on behalf of the ACT Alliance, Geneva for selected faith-based CSOs and some actors in the sector.

The event was to brainstorm on the possible ways to package adaptation messages for easy acceptance.

Mr Emmanuel Nyarko Ankomah, the Coordinator of PRS&D, said the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the Christian Council of Ghana were piloting climate change in five communities in GAR.

The piloting communities are James Town, Korle Gonno, Chorkor and Agbogbloshie.

Mr Ankomah said earlier engagement with opinion leaders and community members showed that they were willing to form committees to help address the risk factors within their localities.

Dr Benedicta Ofosu-Mensah, a Lecturer at the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies, (IESS), said urban areas were important when it came to climate change because they accounted for lots of greenhouse gases and waste.

She said: "As people concentrate in the cities, they are exposed to issues of climate change, such as rising sea levels, floodings, air pollution, among others".

Dr Fosu-Mensah said it was time to talk to people living in affected communities on possible ways to adapt to climate change issues, adding, " we have long passed the stage of climate change mitigation".

She said for example, people living at Glefe should be told to either move to a higher ground or raise their building footings so that when it rains lives and properties would be protected.

She, therefore, called for urgent need for adaptation and resilient through an informed decision-making to reduce the impact of climate change.

Dr Rev. Cyril G.K. Fayose, the General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, also reiterated the need to adapt and build resilience.

He said in the developed world before one gets a building peemit, one has to construct a water reservoir for harvesting water.

He, therefore, urged the city authorities to include water reservoir to the construction of septic tank to qualify one for building permit.