Environment protection is a shared responsibility — EPA Boss

The Executive Director of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), Mr Henry Kwabena Kokofu, has stated that environment protection is a shared responsibility that needs a collective responsibility to protect the planet for future generations.

He added that the earth was now facing a crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution and it was imperative for the global community as well as governments to develop and implement strategies to reverse such phenomena.

Mr Kokofu stated this at a media consultative workshop on Thursday in Accra to deliberate on a five-year communication strategy for the sound management of chemicals and waste in Ghana.

He said Ghana has initiated several strategies such as a 10-year strategic plan (2021-2030) on sound management of chemicals and waste; a five-year communication strategy to complement the implementation of the strategic plan and comprehensive legislation to regulate all industrial and consumer chemicals, all in an attempt to protect the environment.

Mr Kokofu added that Ghana has attached great importance to the sound management of chemicals and wastes and would continue to play an active role in the implementation of legally binding chemicals and waste-related multilateral environment agreements as well as the strategic approach to international chemical management.

“For instance, the 15th meeting of the conference of the parties to the Basel Convention (BC COP-15) held from 6th to 17th June 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland adopted landmark amendments to the convention text, proposed by Ghana and Switzerland. This is a bold decision which not only protects vulnerable countries from unwanted imports of e-waste but also fosters their environmentally sound management,” he reiterated.

Dr Lawrencia Osae Nyarko, a consultant, said the communication strategy on sound management of chemicals and waste was central to achieving the three dimensions of sustainable development (social, economic and environmental) and relevant for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

She outlined the components of the communication strategy: Dialogue, key messages, target audience and tools for implementing sound management of chemicals and waste.

She reiterated that to implement the communication strategy on sound management of chemicals and waste, Ghana needed to create awareness, create linkages and ensure effective implementation of the strategy and SDGs in the national development agenda.

The communication strategy seeks to strengthen national capacity to manage chemicals and waste throughout their lifecycle, waste-related multilateral environmental agreements and policy frameworks and minimize risk to human health and the environment.