Experts at the maiden Environmental Sustainability Summit organized by the B&FT have emphasised that enforcing respective laws will protect the environment in the country’s efforts to deal with socio-economic impacts of pollution on natural life.
They argued that while proactive roles from all stakeholders toward protecting the environment are crucial, the necessary laws required to hold people, organisations, and different sectors accountable for their actions and inactions must go beyond paper and be enforced.
They believe the move could help deal with culprits of pollution, adding that individuals must be deliberate and intentional about preserving the atmosphere.
Speaking on the theme ‘The Impact of Pollution on Environmental Sustainability’ in line with this year’s theme of ‘Socio-Economic Impact of Pollution on Natural Life’, the experts also noted a need to make available accurate data that will influence policy decisions going forward.
“The theme is timely; environmental sustainability is key because it links everything and is the policy that will guide actions. Without it, people will do things anyhow. The policy is key to ensuring there is uniformity and a level of standardisation for whatever that is going on,” said Chief Corporate Communications Officer-Jospong Group of Companies, Sophia Kudjordji.
With regard to the issue of banning single-use plastics, Ms. Sophia Kudjordji suggested that though it must be a nationwide action, the country should consider implementing it gradually.
“It is a country-wide thing that needs to be done, but can we start from our schools, institutions, and corporate organisations and find little pockets of society to begin? It will be difficult to start as a whole; let us start bit by bit,” she urged.
Director of Corporate Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Forestry Commission, Cudjoe Awudi, also said given the fact that the country does not have any general data on the subject, academia must collaborate with the public and private sectors to generate proper and accurate data that will inform effective decision-making.
According to Global Forest Watch, Ghana has lost a total of 1.41 million hectares of tree cover from 2001 to 2021 – equivalent to a 20 percent decrease in forest cover over the last twenty years, with 740 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.
The report also indicated that the country’s deforestation rate is high and concentrated in areas of high poverty, with land use changing from forests to agricultural lands and causing close to 92 percent of forest degradation.
It is on the back this that Senior Lecturer and Head of Development at the University of Environment & Sustainable Development, Dr. Micheal Tuffour, said with the increasing population and need to create jobs, the environment presents a huge avenue to employ many youths.
“There are a lot of young people who do not have jobs. The environment is an avenue to create new jobs. There are lands available to plant trees and these are ways to solve one challenge with another. We can even look at trees that produce fruits. So at the same time, you are making sure that you are reducing carbon emissions, environmental deterioration, adding to afforestation, and improving the environment while providing food. This can help ensure food security and employment,” he said.
