Pressure group, OccupyGhana, has charged President Akufo-Addo to be resolute in his fight against illegal mining in the country.
According to the group, the President’s words on deforestation do not resonant with facts on the ground. Citing the President’s visit to Egypt for the COP27 launching of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP) with the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, it revealed that the forum is one that seeks to find solutions to reduce forest loss, increase restoration and support sustainable development.
It indicated that a sentence from the President’s speech that day which deserves repeating is “Forest loss can be averted”.
“Your words on deforestation do not jell with facts on the ground. Even though since the implementation of the Cocoa Forest REDD+ program about a decade ago Ghana has reduced carbon emissions from cocoa farming by 972,456 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), we argue that Galamsey is busily replacing that reduced amount with carbon dioxide.”
OccupyGhana
OccupyGhana further recounted that the next day at another meeting at the COP27, President Akufo-Addo stated that “with her vast land, Africa has the greatest potential to help decarbonize the world by absorbing carbon dioxide through regenerative agriculture that requires less fertilizer and reforestation with strong biodiversity content”.
Risks posed by galamsey on climate
The pressure group explained that as head of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, the President started his address on 8th November, 2022, to the forum with these words about the risk of climate change: “…Development is at risk. Our health is at risk. And our survival, even, is at risk”.
“However, when we juxtapose your words in Egypt this past week to what is going on in the illegal small-scale gold mining industry aka Galamsey, we find you wanting.”
OccupyGhana
OccupyGhana asserted that a study that was published by Ghanaian and American researchers working with data from NASA satellites shows that between 2005 and 2019, Ghana has been losing about 2600 ha/yr of forests to Galamsey, which translates to about 26 square kilometers. It explained that considering the rate at which the country is going, a land the size of Kumasi is deforested every 9 to 10 years.
“At the increased level of irresponsible mining we are seeing presently, it could be faster. The cited paper by Bareblitt and her group shows that the carbon footprint of Galamsey is seven times that of the traditional pit mines. Data from S&P Global Intelligence (2019) shows that surface mining of gold emits 0.85 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) for every ounce of gold mined. That means mining 1.14 million ounces of gold through Galamsey will replace the carbon reduction through REDD+.”
OccupyGhana
In 2018 alone, OccupyGhana highlighted that about 1.984 million ounces of gold was mined through Galamsey. This, it indicated, means that the much-touted carbon reduction through the REDD+ program that was achieved over a decade or less can be undone by Galamsey activities in less than a year!
OccupyGhana concerted that President Akufo-Addo is right about the dangers of climate change and the fact that Africa is unprepared for its effects. However, it noted that a lot can be done at home to stem the problem and it can start with controlling Galamsey.
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