Professor Dr. Daniel Buor, Vice Chancellor of Valley View University, explain the university’s approach towards environmentally sound energy delivery to Eberhard Schanze German Ambassador to Ghana and Katherina Reiche, Deputy Federal Minister for the Environment in Germany.
Posted on: www.dailyguigeghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Friday October 14, 2011.
The visiting Deputy Federal Minister for Environment in Germany, Katherina Reiche has urged Ghana not to relent on efforts to pursue sound energy policies that will meet the challenges of the 21st Century.
“Securing a reliable, economically viable and environmentally sound energy supply is one of the great challenges of this century. A core element of this is the implementation of the pivotal political objectives for our future energy system,” she explained.
The Minister was speaking at a public lecture themed: “The state and environment – German perspective,” at the Valley View University (VVU) at Oyibi, near Accra on Wednesday.
The lecture forms part of efforts by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), a German organization to partner some tertiary and other institutions in the country to find solutions to the energy situation in the country.
Ms. Reiche said Germany is billed to become “one of the most energy-efficient and greatest economies in the world while enjoying competitive energy prices and a high level of prosperity.”
She said a high level of energy security, effective environmental and climate protection and the provision of an economically viable energy supply are necessary for any country to remain a competitive industrial base in the long term.
She said Germany was determined to strengthen competition and market orientation on the energy markets, which would enable them to secure sustainable economic prosperity, jobs for the future, innovation and modernization.
“The challenges of sustainable energy provision derive in part from long-term global trends. The world’s rising demand for energy will lead in the long-term to a pronounced increase in energy prices,” she indicated.
The minister said Germany’s dependence on energy imports would continue to increase, adding “energy consumption currently causes 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.”
She said Germany’s present energy supply structures would have to be radically transformed in the medium to long term if they were to achieve energy security, value for money and the targets set by their climate protection policy.
Ms. Reiche said the huge potential for innovation, growth and employment could be tapped in the course of revamping the energy system.
Dr. Charles E. Gyansa-Easmon, an Agronomist, said a decentralized state-intervention in environmental-policy is effective in ensuring a sustainable balance between the environment and economic development.
Professor Dr. Daniel Buor, Vice Chancellor of Valley View University, in an introductory remark, confirmed that the university is committed to contributing meaningfully to the debate on climate change.
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