Albert Oppong-Ansah
Accra, Feb. 4, GNA – Air quality experts are calling for urgent action to merge the over 29 existing regulations into a single National Clean Air Quality Policy.
They recommend that the policy should establish specific targets, along with actionable plans and timelines, to address the sources of poor air quality, which has become the leading environmental risk factor in the country, severely affecting the health of citizens, particularly children and the elderly.
Dr. Allison Felix Hughes, Facility Manager of Afri-SET West Africa, made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
He explained that merging the regulations would help identify existing gaps and address them effectively.
Dr. Hughes stated that a national air quality policy should be a top priority for the country, given the significant health and socio-economic effects of citizens’ daily exposure to poor air quality.
He explained that studies had estimated the health impacts of air pollution at US$ 4.3 billion, which represents 6.4 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product in 2019.
Dr. Hughes, also a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physics at the University of Ghana, noted that poor air quality was responsible for the premature deaths of approximately 23,600 Ghanaians each year.
“This figure exceeds persons who died from malaria being 21,600, tuberculosis numbering 10,200, and HIV/AIDS being 14,620 in the same year,” he said.
Mr. Desmond Appiah, Ghana Country Lead of the Clean Air Fund, said there was need for a national air quality policy in Ghana with ambitious targets for key polluting sectors, such as transport and waste, and a clear, efficient implementation system.
He suggested that those developing the policy should be intentional in setting ambitious targets—like the World Health Organization’s interim targets—to push the country towards more aggressive actions to reduce air pollution.
According to Mr. Appiah, achieving these goals would also result in the co-benefit of reducing non-communicable diseases, such as childhood asthma.
He noted that a recent Environmental Protection Authority’s National Greenhouse Gas Emission report flagged a three-fold increase in greenhouse gas emissions driven by the energy sector between 1990 and 2022.
“Setting more ambitious targets means a call for more focused actions which could include upscaling e-vehicles, introducing more mass transport systems, dealing with solid waste to reduce open burning, more sensitization on clean cooking to decrease household pollution and deploying renewable energy technologies to drive the ambition.
“As a country, we aspire to be industrialised, so setting ambitious targets will help drive the right actions for now and the future. For instance, as we build roads, we can incorporate other modes of mass transit or safer non-motorised transport options,” he said.
Mr. Emmanuel Appoh, Managing Director of Envirofin Consult, pointed out that multiple institutions have roles to play in ensuring air quality.
However, he noted that coordination among these institutions has been weak over the years, due to the status quo.
“Having a policy and with the new Environmental Protection Authority mandate, the implementation of air quality regulations will be well coordinated to prevent duplication among institutions,” he said.
GNA