Mahama: Multilateralism Key to Tackling Global Challenges
President Mahama urges multilateral cooperation to tackle climate change and global crises, emphasizing the need for partnerships and coalitions of the willing, with the UK as a key ally
- Mahama says multilateralism is essential to address global challenges like climate change
- He warns unilateral actions and tariff impositions threaten global stability and trade systems
- Calls for “coalitions of the willing” with partners like the UK to safeguard international cooperation
President John Dramani Mahama has reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to multilateral cooperation as the most effective way to address global challenges, particularly climate change.
He made the remarks during a courtesy visit by Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, in Accra on Tuesday, November 25.
Mahama stressed that climate change is a universal threat that no single nation can resolve alone.
“We believe that multilateralism is the best order for our world, especially when we face challenges like the climate crisis. It affects every part of the world, and no one country can adapt or solve it alone,” he said. “The only way to tackle it is through multilateral cooperation, and I want to commend the UK for its leadership on climate change and resilience.”
The President warned that recent global developments driven by unilateral actions threaten to undermine the international system that has maintained stability for decades. Citing the invasion of Ukraine, escalating conflicts across regions, and the devastating toll of the Gaza crisis, Mahama said such events “don’t belong to the 21st century.”
“I believe unilateral action is not helping the global order,” he added. He also criticized the erosion of the rules-based global trading system, highlighting the growing trend of countries imposing tariffs without consultation, which “upends the system we have nurtured for years.”
In response to these challenges, Mahama called for the formation of “coalitions of the willing” to safeguard global cooperation and stability, noting that the United Kingdom remains one of Ghana’s most valued partners in this effort.
“At a time like this, it becomes a coalition of the willing. We must develop new partnerships that allow us to work together not as individual countries but as coalitions—and there is no better partner than the UK,” he said.
