Ghana and Denmark have signed two major agreements to boost bilateral cooperation on climate change.
The agreements are geared toward ensuring zero emissions in maritime transport, water efficiency and conservation.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Prime Minister of Denmark, Ms Mette Frederiksen, signed the agreement on Zero Emissions in Shipping.
The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, and the Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Tom Norring, signed the agreement on Green Umbrella for Danish Projects in Ghana.
The agreements were signed at the Jubilee House when President Akufo-Addo received the Danish Prime Minister who is on a two-day visit to Ghana.
Ms Frederiksen, who was accompanied by the opposition leader from the Liberal Party of Denmark, Mr Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, is in Ghana to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Ghana and Denmark.
President Akufo-Addo, in an address, commended Prime Minister Frederiksen for being the first Danish leader to visit Ghana.
“The Queen was here in my very first term and in the first year of my second mandate the Prime Minister is here as well. We are very happy to have you here and honoured by your presence here,” he said.
Relations between Ghana and Denmark, according to President Akufo-Addo, dated back to the 17th Century when Danes first arrived in the shores of Ghana
Since Ghana’s independence, he said there had been constructive engagements between Ghana and Denmark
“There are a lot of things that are working between our two countries that should provide the basis for strengthening the relations even in future.”
“I believe that this visit of yours provides us some base for inspiring, igniting, and consolidating that relationship,” he said.
He thanked the Danish government for providing military response to help fight the growing menace of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
Ms Frederiksen, on her part, said Ghana and Denmark had a lot of historical ties and a lot of things both nations could address together in future, including climate change.
“We all know what is happening in your region because of climate change, poverty rate and migration statistics and it brings a lot of different problems with it. We need to respond to climate change both in Africa and in Europe and to build a stronger bridge between us when it comes to climate change,” she said.
She expressed her country’s readiness to help protect Ghana’s ocean, and address other issues such as security, poverty, and unemployment.
“I would like to congratulate you on all the efforts you have taken to fight COVID-19. You have been quite successful in your country. I am also glad that we have been able to help with vaccines because, of course, vaccine is our super weapon, no matter where you are,” she said.
BY YAW KYEI
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