An Environmental Economist, Dr Kwaku Adu has called on government and stakeholders to facilitate massive public education on solutions to plastic pollution and clean environment to create awareness among Ghanaians.

According to him, there was inadequate education on environmental bye-laws that have been made to protect the environment “but these bye-laws only remained on the shelves of the institutions mandated to cater for the environment with less education on them among the citizenry.”

He said the situation has contributed to many pollutions in communities and called on all stakeholders to help resource the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to consistently educate Ghanaians to create the awareness and enable them keep clean environment as well as properly dispose off waste, especially plastics.

Dr Adu was speaking at a forum organised by the Okyeman Environment Foundation in collaboration with the University College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies (UCAES), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Project Abroad to mark this year’s World Environment Day.

The forum which had the theme “Solutions to Plastic Pollution” brought together students, members of Civil Society Organisation (CSOs), Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individual resource persons to share insights on tackling plastic pollution.

Later, a tree planting exercise, as part of Forest Okyeman project, under the UNDP and led by the Coordinator, Daniel Osei Frimpong was organised for participants.

Dr Adu also indicated that when government and other stakeholders were able to facilitate adequate education on the issue, the implementation or enforcement by the security agencies would be made easier.

“Ghanaians after being adequately educated would become more responsible to the environment and if they do not obey the laws, they know they will be punished for it,” he said.

Dr Adu revealed that according to data from the UNDP, annually over 4 million tonnes of plastics were produced worldwide and less than 10 percent were recycled, adding that 19 to 23 million tonnes found their way into our water bodies annually.

He said the situation was worrying and called stakeholders to ensure that issues on plastic pollution and clean environment were practically taught in schools from the basic to the tertiary levels, adding it should not just be theory based but practically taught to enable students own their environment and be responsible towards it.

Speaking on tree planting, he said the Green Ghana project should be restructured into individual or community tree planting projects and groups as well as individuals should be assigned to particular trees to cater for them rather than mass planting where after planting some trees cannot be accounted for.

For his part, the Executive Secretary of the Okyeman Environment Foundation, Kofi Gyimah Amoako-Gyimah stated that plastics caused environmental pollution, and added that aside championing environmental conservation, “there was the need to also conserve our cleanliness and sanity and therefore plastic waste management is another way of dealing with the issues of the environment,”

He revealed that plastic pollution was causing marine ecology to be wiped out as well as leading to gutters being chocked and people losing their lives and properties as a result to flooding due to choked gutters.

He said, as part of the annual celebration of the Okyeman Environment week, the Foundation has partnered with the UCAES and UNDP among others to hold the discussion where students were brought at the forefront to discuss ways to beat plastic solutions “so that the ideas generated would inform policy makers and all others on how we can manage this issue of plastic pollution.”

From Ama Tekyiwaa Ampadu Agyeman, Bunso

Pic caption

Dr Kwaku Adu, fourth counting from left and Kofi Gyimah Amosko Gyimah,third count from right in group photo with participants at the forum