IPNews-Monrovia: A Liberian climate change professional with expertise in greenhouse gases, Dr. Charles Asumana Sr., has obtained a Certificate of Proficiency in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory from the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute (GHGMI), based in Seattle, Washington DC, USA with sponsorship from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The letter of award, signed by Michael Gillenwater, Dean of the Institute and William Kojo Agyemang-Bonsu, Manager of Mitigation, Data and Analysis Programme of the UNFCCC, reads in part “Charles, congratulations on passing your exam (92%), and we are pleased to present a Certificate of Proficiency following your successful completion. There is an urgent need for experts with your commitment and knowledge to help competently address the issue of global climate change. We hope you will continue to stay engaged with the Institute or being actively involved as a Prime Member”.
With this certificate, Dr. Asumana is now a qualified GHG Inventory Expert and Technical Expert Reviewer for Annex I and non-Annex I Parties to the UNFCCC. For Annex 1 Parties, these include the reviews of annual submissions of GHG inventories and supplementary information under the Kyoto Protocol, and reviews of national communications (NCs) and biennial reports (BRs) as part of the international assessment and review (IAR) process of developed countries.
For non-Annex I Parties, this relates to the technical analysis as part of the international consultation and analysis (ICA) process of biennial update reports (BURs) submitted by developing countries.
“I see this certification as an opportunity to bolster existing strengths at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia with its current team of dynamic leaders, aid in enhancing Liberia’s reporting performance under the UNFCCC to facilitate access to much-needed funds to adapt to and mitigate the challenges of global warming, and ultimately, prepare our country for the enhanced transparency framework (ETF) of the Paris Agreement. This certification means a lot not just for me but for Liberia, categorized by UNFCCC as one of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)” Dr. Asumana stated.
As a staff of the EPA, National Focal point for science and technologies, and a university lecturer, Dr. Asumana says his immediate goal is to build a strong team of emerging climate change experts that will serve as a think-tank on GHG inventory and mitigation. According to him, he wants to impact his generation through teaching and research. Along this line, he’s currently working with six Liberians with varying capacities and expertise towards similar certification. They are Isaac Nyaneyon Kannah, Mark E. Tambah, P. Nanlee Johnson, Alvin F. Terry, N. Lewis Aldo Jr., and Vannah G. Johnson. When certificated, Liberia will boast of a team of international technical expert reviewers at the level of the UNFCCC.
The UNFCCC National Focal Point for Liberia, Mr. Benjamin S. Karmorh, Jr. says he’s extremely proud of the achievement of a Liberian whom he personally nominated to the UNFCCC. He admitted that even though he did not know Dr. Asumana, he hastened to recommend him after a colleague introduced him in August 2016. After perusing his professional profile, Mr. Karmorh said when they both met for the first time in August 2016, he realized that Dr. Asumana would be an asset to the national and global climate change program. Since then, they have built a professional working relationship.
It can be recalled that Dr. Asumana topped the WAEC exams nationwide in 2002 as a student of the Lott Carey Baptist Mission School in Brewerville, and went on to obtain the highest academic award among international students at the Beijing University of Chemical Technology where he studied Chemical Engineering and Technology with emphasis in oil/gas technology. He served as senior environmentalist of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) before its insolvency in 2015 that led to a massive companywide redundancy.
GHGMI was founded in response to the growing demand for qualified GHG professionals. Just as engineering and financial accounting rely on certified professionals, GHG emissions management requires a highly competent and ethical professional class to undertake measurement, reporting, auditing, and mitigation activities. The Institute’s mission is to build and support a global community of experts with the highest standards of professional practice in measuring, accounting, auditing, and managing GHG emissions.
This effort is critical to ensuring that market mechanisms and policy responses to climate change are effective and credible, as well as a valuable source of new green jobs.
