The Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr has on Friday revealed that she has been invited to join the newly established 12 person Global Commission for the Independent Review of the Economics of Water, and the 5 person UN Local2030 Coalition Steering Committee.

The Mayor made this revelation on social media in commemoration of this year’s World Earth Day.

According to Mayor Aki-Sawyerr, climate change and environmental degradation affect the daily lives of Freetonians.

“In addition to the risks of landslides, mudslides and flooding, and extreme heat because of the loss of tree cover, a current and increasing crisis is access to clean water. Finding solutions to climate change consequences, including severe water shortages, require local actions which in turn can be catalyzed and facilitated by global international policies and frameworks,” she stated.

The Mayor of Freetown further stated that, “I am therefore deeply honored to have been invited to join the newly established 12 person Global Commission for the Independent Review of the Economics of Water, co-chaired by Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Director General of WTO.”

“In a similar vein, and with a broader focus of driving implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN has recently established the Local2030 Coalition as a mechanism for the crucial engagement of stakeholders at the local level. I am deeply honored to have been invited to join the 5 person UN Local2030 Coalition Steering Committee which will provide strategic leadership and governance oversight of the coalition and which will be co-chaired by Mdme Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director, UN-Habitat,” she added.

Mayor Aki-Sawyerr noted that the fight against climate change is not one that the country can afford to lose.

“At FCC our climate interventions include planting and growing 1m trees through #FreetownTheTreeTown, seeking to introduce clean mass transit public transport through the ongoing work on the cable car system, significantly improving solid and liquid waste management with the introduction of 120 tricycles for street sweeping and household waste collection and the establishment of Freetown’s first waste water treatment plant,” she noted.

“On this Earth Day, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on the above global platforms, conscious that these global platforms will bring local benefits to the fight against climate change and the improvement of lives here in Freetown,” she added.