The Environment, The Economy, Our Future

Humankind was created to dwell in a clean environment and earn his livelihood from economic resources in their immediate environment. The friction between the environment and the economy is becoming a big threat to our future. The necessary steps, policies and individual effort need to be maximized to grease or oil the interrelation between the environment and the economy.

Whenever I think about the value of the physical environment, money is the least thing that crosses my mind. I think about the first glow of fresh air in the morning and the pleasant days spent at the beach with family and friends both males and females. I believe most people around the globe share a similar experience. The massive personal benefits humans derive from having a connection with nature is surely worth more than billions of dollars. Scientifically living in a green surrounding where there are a variety of trees, flowers, plants, and animals improves health and wellbeing of inhabitants. It is thus estimated that most people now prefer to be close to nature.

The current, our generation must cultivate the habit of improving the condition of the natural environment for future generations to help reduce the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. A continual rise in greenhouse gas emissions will further warm the planet and cause long-lasting changes in the climate system, threatening severe and irreversible consequences for humankind and ecosystems. They include changed ecosystems and habitats; detrimental impacts on agriculture, potentially leading to food shortages; and more and longer lasting weather extremes and natural disasters, along with numerous risks to society.

Ghana is blessed with a lot of natural resources, ranging from renewable to non-renewable resources and if harnessed properly will propel Ghana from developing country to an enviable developed nation. It is on these bases that I reecho the voice of reggae legend and Pan Africanist, Bob Marley which said in the abundant of water the fool is always thirsty. However, the 21^st African is not a fool but engulf with greed and the desire to build a wealthy economy with high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rate at the detriment of the natural environment.

It is obvious that our continued prosperity and development as a people depends solely on the continued extraction of natural resources. Ghana depends largely on the extraction of gold, bauxite, manganese, timber and recently on oil for export. All these resources have earned the nation foreign exchange to boost our economy. However their exportation is in raw state and the nation does not derive the full benefit of the resources. Most businesses care more about improving their profit margin than consider the health of other species that beautifies our environment. It has been an open secret that our society is been educated to care more about its own welfare than the welfare of neighbouring communities.

The act of treating non-renewable resources as pure income has greatly influenced the extraction of natural resources without paying due attention to the effect that it will have on society. Most communities where minerals are extracted are engulfed with diseases and famine. Since most of such communities are deprived of their land for farming and their water bodies are polluted with chemicals which are harmful for human consumption. This act could be term as economic irritationality.

The entire economy depends on a healthy environment. A poor and ill environment increases cost of production. Every production firm uses water to keep its activities running. For instance, research has shown that it takes around 10,000 litres of water to produce a commodity. So if the water is polluted or lost through drought or floods, it becomes scarce which drives up the prices of manufactured goods. Sustainable Development Goal 6 we must ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Industries and individuals are to pay attention to our sources of water and maintain a clean environment as well.

Both production and consumption, relates to the environment in two ways _we draw resources from the environment to produce goods and services and we intend emit wastes into the environment in the process of both producing and consuming. The use of chemicals in farming and fishing poses a major threat to the health of humans and the environment in general. Reversing this trend will be a great victory. But sometimes we think and act as if we are not part of nature. Goal 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals seeks to promote the conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal ecosystems, prevent marine pollution and increase the economic benefits to small Islands developing States and Less Developed Countries LDCs from the sustainable use of marine resources.

The government, however, is also losing sight of the benefits a healthy environment brings for either people or the economy. Saving the environment does not need to be presented as a burden, it should be something that we all must develop the interest to do, to save the universe from dying.

Scientists from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly has confirmed that from the late 1990s the universe has been fading but their latest study shows that the demise of the universe is happening across all wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared . If we are to succeed and overcome the difficulties that have bedeviling and polluting our environment, we must build a consensus that is more attuned to the larger purpose and responsibilities of protecting the natural environment rather than taming it in pursuant for wealth creation.

It is time we stand to work together to tailor a suitable and sustainable program that will include actions to reduce the use of physical resources, the use of renewable rather than non-renewable resources, the redesign of production processes and products to eliminate the production of toxic materials, and the protection and restoration of natural habitats and environments valued for their beauty to produce both healthy environment and buoyant economy. It is my strong conviction that a coordinated development of the environment and the economy is the major avenue to the realization of a Sustainable Development Goals

Isaac Blay
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