In the next decade, Ghana will undergo massive changes in where and how the people may live as well as how they will make their livelihood. The city will become a centre of economic, social and political life due to the enormous impact on the ecosystem and depletion of the natural resources.
The key to Ghana’s environmental and developmental future lies in the progression of the character of governance, especially, how social ethics, public policies and institutions are structured with business, household and government to interact with the environment. Such structure is key to good environmental governance.
The key to good environmental governance depends largely on how effectively the society is able to press the demand for social and environmental accountability on government but not as spectators on environmental policies.
Good environmental governance
Good governance includes transparency, fair treatment and accountability. Society that is governed well encourages a sense of social solidarity, which is a prerequisite and valuable component in problem solving. Good environmental governance, integrates environmental with social, political and economic objectives in a way that sustainability of ecosystems is well-looked-after.
As a nation, we are all aware that the most severe environmental stress is directly related to unethical mining and excessive unethical lumber. This has resulted in water, air, soil and river bodies’ pollution, land degradation, deforestation and depletion of resources (cocoa, timber and minerals).
Environmental and social stress also shoots from the lack of adequate implementation and resource allocation or infrastructure. The increase in price in gold and timber in the world price are generating both a new opportunity and new challenges for governance.
This is putting huge pressures on the environment. It is quite certain that most people are not aware of the social, economic and health implications the current environment poses. A time will come, when a well informed people will not only have concerns for their own health or livelihood but for the health and happiness of their children and grandchildren as well. And at that time, it is most likely that the electorate will demand for better environmental protection.
The novel variable in Ghana’s environmental future will be the kind of governance mechanisms that will be put in place over the years, governance mechanisms, which include a wide range of good ethics, practices and rules are going to determine whether environmental sustainability fundamentally influences economic development.
Significant investment in good governance is likely to be the most important and the highest return activity that the government can undertake to improve Ghana’s chances of sustainable development.
One most important thing we have to realise is that the current policy either by default or design has the tendency to favour short term benefit for the privileged at the expense of the welfare of the people and the long term sustainability of the economy.
Weak enforcement of environmental policies
The progress in addressing the environmental challenges has been blocked by failure of governance. In the last 30 years, the governments have developed some impressive environmental policies, legislation, regulations and framework, however, the enforcement is weak, because environmental agencies are side-lined with respect to the ministries charged with promoting economic growth, and on the other hand, because of weak civil societies have failed to provide some alternative mechanisms to hold governments and actors accountable for their environmental performance.
As a result, the pollution of air, water and soil threatens the health, food security and wellbeing of the citizens, also unfairly costing the government huge revenue.
Ghana’s impressive economic growth and development, come as a warning, the natural resources that underline this success must be protected by sustainably managing them. An increase in the price of cocoa, gold, oil and timber has helped to transform the gross domestic product. However, this growth has come with cost, the scale and scope of the economic effects of environmental degradation on society.
The continuous destruction of the environment will limit Ghana’s economic growth, the air, and water pollution and the plastics, will affect human health putting so much pressure on the health care system. And unethical gold mines, unmanaged solid waste, and contaminated sites release hazardous chemicals; land degradation, deforestation, and overfishing heavily will limit economic growth and create food shortages.
Need to develop and redesign the environmental policy
Ghana’s economy is largely dependent on non-renewable resources and renewable resources. Growth that relies on non-renewable resources is not sustainable as the resources deplete, since gold and other minerals have their peak growth level. The renewable resources have the potential for sustainable economic growth, that is, and if only that is, there is good environmental policy to protect the environment.
For example, food crops, cocoa, and timber have the potential to increase GDP with good environment policy. The mismanagement of the environment and the depletion of natural capital will put the economy at risk, including livelihood and health, affecting human capital.
For the benefit of our own developmental good, we need to develop and redesign environmental policy. We have to shift away from the “control and command” system and if for political reasons, the environmental laws would be difficult to apply, to a multiple agent approach, which will include all the stakeholders, the miners, timber merchants, business and civil society (farmer association, environmental NGOs etc).
Multiple agent approach
The strength of a more participatory approach will aim to achieve larger environmental protection at a very lower cost and more effective implementation, than the central system which is expensive, inefficient and inadequate. With the “multiple agent approach”, the government will still maintain the key responsibility for identifying and promoting social good.
The prime difference is that the government actively and strategically involves the business and civil society to define the goals of good environmental governance. In this way, the control of the environment does not become political. Furthermore, in the multiple agent approach, the civil society and businesses can organise to initiate and implement their own activities, and seek the government for help.
Certainly, credible, fair, accountable, and efficient government is the foundation for good governance and efficiency, transparency, and accountability are greater in a multiple agent approach than the command and control approach. The command and control approach has been tested in many western countries but has come as a challenge.
Governance based on stakeholders’ engagement can help to crush any obstacles. For instance, public opinion can assist to animate political will, civil society groups can monitor and sanction environmental wrong doers, they can assist operators to enhance productivity, and environmental performance. Non-governmental organisations, journalists and others can become watchdogs and critics, they can monitor both government and business to do the right thing.
The multiple approach system also allows the government to think in terms of strategic behaviour, normally every good policy tool will not be forced to impact one particular sector, such as polluters but also how the policy can help the civil society to monitor to improve environmental performance.
Over the years’ communities have been largely excluded from environmental governance. Businesses have the tendency to entangle themselves with the governments, in the exploitation of natural resources, so the acquiring of concessions is based on more political affiliation than economic efficiency.
This makes it more difficult to implement the command and control approach. On the negative side, without adequate and enforceable environmental norms, market pressures are likely to increase the scale of environmental degradation and resource depletion.
Right now there is failure to enforce existing regulation. Above all without an explicit mechanism of accountability and equity, the vulnerable people will continue to pay the environmental cost. Children are more vulnerable to environmental health risk, because children spend more time outside playing since their lungs are not yet developed.
Stricter environmental law
A stricter environmental law to prosecute the unethical environmental behaviour under the command and control approach or the multiple agent approach to deal with the environmental problem is crucial at this moment to save the nation from insolvency.
If the environment problem is left unchecked it could cost the government in the region of $20 billion by 2035, as at now it costs the government between $4 billion and $7 billion (World Bank Ghana Country Environmental Analysis). These figures exclude environmental related death, water pollution, land degradation, deforestation, overfishing, food security, loss of coast line and air pollution and to quantify these would be terrifying.
In 2017, land degradation alone cost Ghana $6.3 billion close to 12% of 2017 GDP, according to World Bank Ghana Environmental Analysis. The environmental situation needs urgent attention, if we have to move forward as a nation. It must be seen as investment and not cost.
By Dr Edward Kwadwo Yeboah, Kumasi
The Writer is an Economic Development Consultant
