The Sector Minister of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, has announced that it outfit is currently developing a legal framework to hold companies accountable for the plastic waste generated during the manufacturing and distribution of their products.
This initiative aims to tackle the pressing issue of plastic pollution and its impact on the environment.
During a press conference in Accra, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie shared insights into the ministry’s plans to address the plastic pollution menace.
He emphasized the importance of this mechanism to encourage responsible practices among companies.
Furthermore, the Sector Minister highlighted that Parliament has already approved the national space policy, which is expected to play a vital role in enhancing the country’s socio-economic growth.
“I am pleased to announce that the national space policy has been approved by cabinet and this policy serves as a framework for utilising space science and technology to drive our national development,” he stated.
Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI), Dr Kwaku Afriyie, has advocated for a new approach to farming and agriculture in general to help raise food production and alleviate West Africa’s glaring food insecurity.
Dr. Afriyie believes that more collaboration between the public and commercial sectors, particularly universities and research institutions, is vital to building an environment that fosters innovation and empowers farmers to achieve agricultural greatness.
He stated that securing food security in the whole subregion, including Ghana, remained a critical concern that demanded immediate attention and coordinated efforts from all parties.
Fostering collaborations, sharing knowledge, and supporting technology transfer, he says, are critical to ensuring farmers have access to the tools and skills they need to prosper.
“The role of science and technology in advancing agricultural production cannot be overemphasised.
We must leverage the power of scientific discoveries to help our farmers produce more while losing less, boost productivity, and improve livelihoods.
Dr. Afriyie made the announcement at the 34th ordinary session of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF) Board of Directors meeting, which was sponsored by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Ghana last Tuesday in Accra.
According to him, these individuals prevented him from addressing the issue, as well as the committee he headed.
“I can state without any equivocation that many party officials from the national to the unit committee level had their friends, PAs, agents, relatives, financiers, or relatives engaged in illegal mining. Most of them employed Chinese workers.
“I am not referring to party people who had their legitimate concession and were mining sustainably as they were instructed to do.
“There are appointees in the Jubilee House who are engaging in or supporting illegal mining or interfering with the fight against the menace,” excerpts from the document said.
According toProfessor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, majority of the ministers appointed to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) abandoned the committee.
The Ministers of Sanitation and Local Government and Rural Development were the only ministers who remained to serve on the Committee, according to Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.
President Akufo-Addo established the Committee in March 2017 to combat unlawful small-scale mining.
Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR), Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Chieftaincy & Religious Affairs, Regional Re-Organisation and Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, Water and Sanitation, Interior, Defense, and Information are some of the ministries that made up the Committee.
The Committee’s duties included regulating and sanitising small-scale mining operations in the various mining regions to ensure that miners adhere to the law.
However, the Committee was disbanded soon after the 2020 presidential election.
The report also revealed how a former NPP representative in the Ashanti Region sold concessions that had been obtained unlawfully for GHC 200,000 each.
“Hon. Joseph Albert Quarm, the former MP for Manso Nkwanta exemplifies such individuals. He was a member of parliament for the Manso Nkwanta Constituency in the Ashanti region and at the same time a member of the board of the Minerals Commission.
He used his position as a member of the Minerals Commission to acquire dozens of large scale concessions in his district, ostensibly for community mining purposes.
“This infuriated the party in the constituency, so during the 2020 primaries to select a candidate, the electorate voted against NPP MP, the then sitting MP, who had more resources than other candidates,” parts of the report said.
The report emerged after President Akufo-Addo instructed the Police to look into the earlier accusations made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng in March.
The distinguished scholar, who served under President Akufo-Addo in his initial tenure in office, stated that corruption extends as far up as Jubilee House, where the administration is located.
Country Director of ActionAid Ghana, John Nkaw, has urged wealthy polluter nations to shoulder financial responsibility for the harm that climate change
causes to the most vulnerable and underdeveloped nations.
Addressing attendees at the National Climate Change Seminar in Accra, Mr Nkaw stated that the startling shifts in the climate are
having a toll on scores of farmers in vulnerable nations like Ghana, thus the need for developed countries to support vulnerable countries.
“These sad realities demand our collective action to prevent a further increase in the wealth gap. We must continue our campaign for the establishment of an
international financing facility to help vulnerable countries recover and rebuild in the aftermath of climate disasters,” he indicated.
However, he added that regular and diverse climate change research is critical to improving stakeholders’ understanding of adaptation. Engaging in such research, he said, will also influence private and public activities to attract investors to vulnerable communities.
“The net effect of ongoing climate change is affecting agricultural production. These changes have impacted negatively on people
already living in poverty, who have become vulnerable to prolonged droughts, floods among other climate-induced impacts,” he added.
The seminar helped to raise awareness of the effects of climate change on farm households, facilitate interaction with government agencies, and publish research findings on Ghana’s climate change situation.
Climate change, which impacts both developed and developing countries, remains one of the world’s greatest threats. Despite contributing the least
to existing global climate action interventions, Africa is one of the continents most vulnerable to climate-related disasters.
According to the most recent study from the UN’s climate panel, the harmful effects of climate change are intensifying faster than scientists predicted less than ten years ago.
It stated that while many effects are unavoidable and will disproportionately affect the world’s most vulnerable populations, governments working together to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and prepare communities for climate change could still prevent the worst outcomes.
According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the impact of climate change on agriculture and the environment was estimated at US$6.3 billion in 2017.
The African Development Bank has disclosed that the continent will require approximately $3trillion for climate adaptation programs by 2030 in order for
African economies to enact national commitments.
On the other hand, the World Bank report on Ghana’s climate risk profile predicts that the country’s average temperature will rise by 1°C to 3°C by mid-century and 2.3°C to 5.3°C by the end of the century.
It added that the country’s northern and inland areas are likely to be warm on a regular basis. Meanwhile, the World Bank has offered Ghana a $3 million grant to shield local communities from the impacts of climate change.
This was announced by President Akufo-Addo when giving a speech at Ghana’s pavilion at the ongoing 27th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27), on Wednesday, November 10, 2022.
People present at the conference were Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor; Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, other state officials and the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Dr Kwaku Afriyie.
He said the committee was obligated to initiate pragmatic policies and actions to prepare the Authority to effectively deliver on its mandate in the nation’s nuclear power programme.
Dr. Kwaku Afriyie (middle) with the members of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority Board
Inaugurating the board, in Accra yesterday, he also tasked the board to ensure that nuclear devices for medical and agriculture purposes that would come into the country were well regulated.
The seven-member board which is the thirdfor the NRA is chaired by Professor Aba A. BentilAndam, a fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences with members including Professor Isabella A. Quakyi also from the Academy.
Others are Colonel Tim Ba-Taa-Banah, National Security Ministry; Daniel Adumuah, Adentan Municipal Chief Executive; Ebenezer Appah-Sampong, Environmental Protection Agency; DrNii K. Allotey, NRA and Prof. Edward Akaho, Former Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.
After many years of preparations, President Akufo-Addo, last month, approved the inclusion of nuclear power into the country’s power generation mix, indicating readiness to go nuclear.
The announcement of the government’s approval, called the National Position, is one of the key 19 infrastructure issues under phase one of the programme, a guideline set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“The board is a requirement in international circles, because if it does not exist we would not have the IAEA permission to proceed and that would be against international law, so this board is very important,” said Dr Afriyie.
He said the country, having completed the first phase, had initiated the second phase with a call for expression of interest from vendors and identification of sites for the project.
“Your inputs should ensure the proper management of the resources of the Authority, and also ensure that the Authority is abreast with all emerging new technologies.
“I urge you to be passionate about this duty, bring your years of experience, expertise and excellence which all of you are noted for, to bear on the task ahead. Above all, take your mandate as a “sacred calling” for which posterity would applaud your memory,” he said.
Prof. Andam thanked and assured the president that the board would be committed to the task ahead, initiate policies and see their quick implementation, and ensure good governance in the NRA.
“I can attest to the fact that members of this board are known for their lives of service and commitment to the nation. This gives me the confidence that history will show that in our day we met the demands which our time requires of us,” she said.
He said that decision was a priority of the government to propel the industrialisation agenda of the country.
Dr Afriyie said this after visiting exhibition stands of agencies under MESTI, as part of the Civil Service Week Celebration, an event that celebrates the administrative machinery of the State.
The celebration is on the theme, “Economic Transformation amid Covid-19 Pandemic: The Responsibilities of an Adaptive Civil Service.â€
The Minister said innovations in tools, equipment, food and agricultural technologies had gone through proven scientific processes and were commercially viable and needed to be scaled up.
“By the end of my tenure in office, I will do everything possible to make these innovations popular and attractive to industry to harness the potential.
“Scientists do so much and we need to build that synergy with the private sector as well as industry to take these inventions up to benefit the public,†he said.
The scientists, he noted, had the capability to develop innovations to address everyday challenges and to improve livelihood, however, what was lacking was the marketing of the output.
Dr Afriyie stated that the role of civil servants towards awareness creation was crucial to the success of the agenda, explaining that Scientists were specifically trained to do research and innovate.
Madam Cynthia Asare Bediako, Chief Director of MESTI, said the work of civil servants was enormous and included translating policy into actions to improve the livelihood of the public.
She said, “We often do these in our offices and many are not aware of our role so the week will celebrate gallant civil service staff and show appreciation for their dedication to work, deepen the trust of citizens in the Civil Service and the public sector in general.
“It is also to sensitise the private sector and citizens on the activities of the Ghana Civil Service, and identify areas of collaboration/partnership, and engage citizens of Ghana with the view to soliciting feedback for policy formulation.â€
The Chief Director said the week would also allow civil servants to network, exchange experiences or ideas and upgrade their skills on emerging global reforms in public policies and programmes and foster unity and togetherness.
The Institutions, including the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the Ghana Atomic Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, took turns explaining their mandates and demonstrated some of their innovations at the event.
