Ghana’s financials is expected to receive a facelift in 2024, as a workshop training session to kick start the natural capital tracking process is being conducted.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) together with the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA), the Ministry of Environmental Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) and the United Nations Environment Program-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) organized a two-day workshop for training on tracking and publishing data on natural capital.
The first workshop, which was on Capacity Building on Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) for Sustainable Development and Decision Making was held to provide participants with methodology and procedures to help them compile and publish an NCA.
The NCA was financed by the United Kingdom Darwin Initiative and is fundamental to ascertaining the wealth and sustainable development of countries. It will be completed in March 2024.
Edward Esuo Afram of the GSS, during an interview on the sidelines of the workshop, said NCA would enable his team of experts produce Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures which would take into account natural resources.
This he believes would help the country account for how much of its natural resources contribute to its GDP, hence, help to generate policies that are aimed at safeguarding the use of its natural resources.
Another key note speaker during the workshop was the CEO of CSIR-Technology Development and Transfer Centre, Dr. George Owusu Essegbey, who stressed on the need for NCA in the fight against illegal mining, which he said was contributing enormous environmental damage to the nation.
Dr. George Essegbey also highlighted the significance of NCA in the context of the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Kunming-Montreal Agreement, which was adopted by governments in December 2022.
The efforts made in the past in this regard, such as the CONNECT Project helped in estimating the cost of reclamation of lands and restoration of water bodies in the Western Region, which was estimated to be $250 million, Dr. Essegbey mentioned.
Proceeding, Dr. Essegbey commended the Ghana Statistical Service for boldly taking the leadership position in implementing the NCA project in Ghana.
“Natural Capital Accounting is very important for every country that seriously wants to achieve sustainable exploitation of its natural resources.”
Dr. Essegbey
Ghana Can Become Like Costa Rica
Dr. Essegbey said it is possible for Ghana to become like Costa Rica – a country highly noted to be one of the best examples of strategizing for nature restoration.
“What Costa Rica has done is not beyond Ghana. A core pillar in emulating the Costa Rican example is generating the data for evidence-based planning in our management and exploitation of nature. The decision-makers in our relevant ministries and agencies and indeed at the Presidency must have the researched data and statistics pertaining to our biodiversity resources.
“In fact, there must be a genuine paradigm shift in our economic planning, from the over-reliance on purely economic and monetary information to the appreciation of the value of nature in its tangible and intangible dimensions.”
Dr. Essegbey
Kwame Fredua, the Senior Programme Officer at EPA also said it had become increasingly evident to the government and the citizenry that reliable and timely data and information on the environment and natural capital was vital to inform these strategic actions and decisions at all levels.
Indicators such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Mr. Fredua also noted, had not sufficiently told the “hidden stories” of the growth process concerned with social inclusion, the flow and stock of natural capital, the explicit and intrinsic costs of environmental degradation and exploitation of natural capital unsustainably.
“Environmental Protection Agency, working with critical institutions like the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), GSS, and the Ministry of Finance (MoF), among others recognize the need to strengthen capacity in the valuation of natural capital and its use in development planning and policy decisions. This recognition and determination have brought us here today.”
Kwame Fredua
“The EPA is confident in this partnership with the Darwin Project and the Ghana Statistical Service, and we expect that the set objectives of the Project will be realized.”
Kwame Fredua
The workshop brought together experts from various fields, including environmental scientists, economists, and statisticians, to discuss the importance of natural capital accounting and to learn about the latest methods and techniques for data collection and analysis.
“We are excited to be part of this initiative, which will give us a better understanding of our natural resources and how to use them sustainably.”
One of the workshop attendees, an environmental scientist.
READ ALSO: GRA Exceeds 2022 Revenue Target By GH₵ 3.6 billion, Aims To Achieve More In 2023
