Extractive governance experts are pushing for a review of the country’s laws on natural resource exploitation to effectively address emerging environmental challenges as well as regulate some corporate environmental practices, as part of efforts to ensure environmental sustainability.

For example, the Minerals and Mining Act, Act 703 – the Environmental Protection Agency Act, Act 490 (which enforces the environmental regulations), according to Dr. Michael Addaney of the University of Energy and Natural Resources, should be reviewed to effectively tackle emerging challenges, particularly issues regarding the environment and climate change.

Dr. Addaney spoke during a panel discussion on the topic ‘Striking a balance between resource exploitation and environmental sustainability: the role of mining, oil and gas companies’, at the second edition of the ‘Environmental Sustainability Summit (ESS 2023)’ organised by the B&FT in Accra, and noted that most of the existing laws pre-date the current environmental issues; thus making them ineffective in addressing such issues.

Particularly at a time when achieving environmental sustainability has become crucial for resource-rich countries like Ghana, the need for a review of such laws has become more imperative than ever, Dr. Addaney added.

He emphasised the need for binding ‘environmental management or protection laws’. This, he said, should have provisions on permissible unavoidable air/dust and water-pollution levels resulting, for instance, from mega infrastructure activities among others.

In addition to this, he said, there should be procedural safeguards for community or public access to information to empower citizens in holding extractive companies accountable for environmental infractions.

Natural resources – particularly precious metals and hydrocarbons – are the essential basis for Ghana’s economy and the well-being of its citizens. Their exploitation is a key factor in the nation’s economic growth and development, but one that can have serious negative environmental and socio-economic impacts.

It is against this background that attention is being drawn to the exploitation of these natural resources in terms of environmental sustainability.

Also contributing to the discussions, a lecturer at the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD), Dr. Michael Tuffour, argued in favour of stringent enforcement of environmental protection laws as well as laws in the extractive sector.

He asserted that given the need to exploit natural resources for economic reasons – while also ensuring environmental sustainability, the applicable laws ought to be effective.

Furthermore, concerns for both the present and future generations when exploiting natural resources must be prioritised, the lecturer said.

He noted that resource exploitation goes with the use of energy, and therefore added that adopting and using the right technology is also key in enhancing environmental sustainability.

On her part, a tech and sustainability entrepreneur, Otema Yirenkyi who was also on the panel, underlined the significance of technology in mitigating the environmental impact of mining.

For example, she said that all the giant corporations in the oil and gas industry, like BP Oil and Shell among others, are shifting toward new technologies – including renewables and new ways of generating energy as opposed to using fossil fuels.

However, for the country to truly achieve its quest to ensure environmental sustainability, an energy consultant, Dr. Kwame Jantuah, posited that there must be strong political will to make this happen.

The 2023 edition of the annual Environmental Sustainability Summit was held under the theme ‘Climate change and its impact on food systems and sustainable environment’.

The summit sought to, among other things, create a platform for academics, policymakers, business leaders and civil society organisations to deliberate and identify key actions that contribute to the sustainable transition of national and local food systems.