Blog Action Day ’09; Round-up of blog posts by Ghanaian Bloggers

Blog Action Day codenamed by some tech-gurus and geeks as [#bad09] is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. They aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion on that particular day...

Yesterday, the 15th of October, 2009 happened to be the Blog Day Action where bloggers all over the world wrote various articles on Climate Change. Ghanaian bloggers were not left out of the fun on writing about this subject on this day...

Below is a round-up of the various posts by members of the Ghana Blogging Group on Blog Action Day [#bad09].

Gameli Adzaho who is the author of The Gamelian World Blog presented his post on "5 Voices on climate Change" where he sampled views from five global leaders. In his opening remark, he talked about the significant of Blog Action Day and how "The phenomenon of climate has engaged the world's attention over the past decade, provoking debates in science, politics, business and technology." Among the five global leaders he choose to discuss about were 1. Former US Vice-President Al Gore 2. Noble Laureate Wangari Maathai 3. US President Barrack Obama 4. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan 5. Former Cuban President Fidel Castro.

He ended his post by asking series of questions [What are your views on climate change? Is it for real? Is it a myth? In what ways do you think that the world can use its resources more sustainably? Can developing countries contribute to reversing climate change?], which he hopes to get to answers to soon.

Next blogger to post on #bad09 was; The African Women's Development Fund (AWDF) whose contributors are AWDF, Bisi and Roselyn. Their post was basically relating to 'Climate Change and Women". According to their blog AWDF the organization is an Africa wide grant-making foundation for African Women. The vision of the AWDF is for African women to live in a world in which there is social justice, equality and respect for women's human rights…

They started their post by not agreeing with Arun Agrawal in his paper on Social Dimensions of Climate Change which was prepared for the Social Development Department, The World Bank, Washington DC, March 5-6, 2008 in which he stated "Climate change will be pivotal in redefining development in the twenty-first century. How nations, societies, communities, and households respond to the impacts of climate changes and variability to which the world has already been committed will in many instances determine their prospects for growth, equity, and sustainability".

They described Climate Change as an environmental change, which is also driven by humans – it is fundamentally a human problem. The impacts of climate change are expected to seriously (and disproportionately) affect the livelihoods, health, and educational opportunities of people living in poverty. They also recommended a few ideas which I would be glad if you mind reading and sharing your thoughts with them on their blog; African Women's Development Fund.

Kajsa Hallberg Adu, co-founder of Ghana Blogging Group and also author of Rain In Africa blog had a lot to say on #bad09 but got shocked at how not current the topic is trending in Ghana. She mentioned how some organization/website is counting down to the UN Meeting and has no story from Ghana on their Climate Orb application. She even went to ask; "When was the last time [someone] you heard someone discuss climate change around here [Ghana]?

She also described a way to reduce Carbon dioxide emissions by suggesting, "We travel with public transport rather than individually in our own cars." She stated again how Ghanaians travel in packed tro-tros, shared taxis or "Kuffuor busses"[Metro Mass Transit busses] and hence do not emit too much CO2.

Finally, my great Ghanaian Blogger buddy; Edward Tagoe who is the author of Tagoe Blogger and also a software developer-cum-poet had a nice post on this great day. He decided to share an interesting website YOURENEW.COM with his numerous readers. He described how this website "is the perfect place for you to recycle or sell used cell phones, mp3 players, digital cameras and graphing calculators. You can also recycle and sell laptops, video game console, external hard drive, video game or DVD. If you can't find your device in our catalogue or we can't pay for it, you can always ship it for free and we'll recycle it safely. So look up your device today, go green and get green! So look up your device today and go green!"…

Also take note, October 24th, 2009 is International Day of Climate Action organized by 350.org

I have been a busy with providing on-site supports for my clients in the Western Region therefore I couldn't do any post on Blog Action Day. I wish I had done some post but I shall be looking out for new blogs and update this post as soon I lay my eyes on one. What are your reactions to climate change in the world and the steps taken by Blog Action Day group? Share your thoughts, comment and more here….!!!