Interviews with key city authorities

As the first step in our research, we conducted interviews with several actors based on their respective organizations’ involvement in the urban climate adaptation strategies across governmental and non-governmental organizations. These include interviews with representatives of governmental agencies, comprising Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA) and with non-governmental agencies including C40, the Africa Water Justice Network, and Ghana Environmental Community for Sustainability. The interview questions were informed by the understanding of maladaptation to extreme urban heat, where we ask the informants the extent to which concerns around maladaptation are recognized and considered in the heat-related policies and initiatives that they have been involved with or know of. We strives to understand the rationale behind certain adaptive strategies and if/and how the concerns around maladaptation are approached.

Below are some selected quotes from the interviews, showing the complexities of adaptation to extreme urban heat across different organizations.