Stakeholders demand strategic investment and enforcement of by-laws
Ghana’s worsening environmental crisis has reached a critical stage, demanding an urgent shift from symbolic corporate gestures to strict enforcement of environmental laws and strategic investment in sustainability.
This was the central message at the Business and Financial Times 2026 Environmental Sustainability Summit (ESS), which opened in Accra on Tuesday, June 16.
Organised by B&FT in collaboration with Jospong Group, Gold Fields and GOENERGY, the gathering convened regulators, corporate leaders, environmental scientists, development practitioners and climate finance experts to identify practical and immediate solutions to the country’s mounting ecological challenges.
In his opening remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of B&FT, Dr. Godwin Acquaye, warned that environmental degradation has evolved from a conservation concern into a direct threat to national development and economic stability.
He expressed worry over the rapid depletion of natural resources, stressing that protection can no longer be treated as a secondary issue.
“The way we are destroying this gift that God has given to us is alarming,” Dr. Acquaye said. “Forests are being depleted at an alarming rate, and unchecked destruction could undermine every effort to achieve sustainable development. The environment remains the foundation of life and livelihoods,” he noted.
The Group Head of Business Development for the Processing Cluster, Jospong Group, Mrs. Drusilla Villars, reaffirmed the Group’s commitment to the 3P principles of People, Planet, and Profit.
She said the Group’s focus remains on “improving lives of people” while making the planet better through waste collection, processing and landfill management.
She noted that 70-80% of Jospong’s work targets environmental protection, adding that profit-making was balanced with social impact.
“This year’s theme, ‘Inspired by Nature for Climate Change,’ is both timely and compelling. It reminds us that nature provides some of the most effective and sustainable solutions to the climate challenges confronting our world today,” she said.
Mrs. Villars urged participants to move beyond dialogue to embrace innovative actions and partnerships for climate action.
She commended B&FT for organising the summit, noting Jospong’s years of partnership.
“Jospong Group over the years has engaged in activities geared towards achieving the sustainability goals,” she added.
A major theme that emerged during the morning session was the rejection of traditional corporate approaches to sustainability. Discussants criticised the tendency to confine environmental responsibility to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and public relations campaigns, describing such practices as inadequate in the face of the climate crisis. They urged companies to integrate climate risk assessments, carbon accounting and sustainability reporting into core business strategies and boardroom decision-making, moving well beyond annual press releases to genuine structural change.
The summit’s strongest regulatory message came from the Director of Human Settlement at the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Hope Smith Lomotey, who announced an intensified crackdown on environmental offences. Speaking on the growing threat posed by poor waste management and air pollution, he reiterated that the open burning of municipal, electronic and industrial waste remains illegal under Ghana’s laws and warned that authorities were moving beyond public education to firm enforcement.
Mr. Lomotey explained that the EPA’s enforcement framework has been decentralised through environmental health officers stationed within Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), with specialised environmental courts now empowered to prosecute offenders. He cautioned that individuals and corporate representatives found guilty of open burning could face spot fines of up to GH¢10,000, while repeated or aggravated offences may attract custodial sentences of between three and six months with hard labour. The message was unambiguous: the era of impunity is over.
Drawing on findings from the Clean Air Fund, Mr Lomotey disclosed that eliminating open burning and implementing effective emissions controls in Accra could save Ghana an estimated US$216 million, equivalent to approximately GH¢3.2 billion, by 2040.
These projected savings, he indicated, would result largely from reduced healthcare costs associated with respiratory diseases and lower expenditure on environmental remediation, a financial argument that resonated strongly with corporate and policy audiences alike.
To strengthen enforcement with scientific evidence, Mr. Lomotey highlighted significant investments in technology-driven monitoring systems.
He said the EPA has expanded its real-time air quality surveillance network, deploying sensors across major urban centres to track pollutants including particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. The system now provides continuous data from key industrial and residential locations across the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Volta and Northern regions, enabling authorities to pinpoint violations and respond with precision.
The summit later split into two concurrent plenary sessions aimed at aligning private investment with sustainability objectives. The first session, focusing on Financing Sustainability, examined the barriers preventing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from accessing climate finance. Panellists, including Dr. Glenn Gyimah, General Manager, Green Transition, Jospong Group, Priscilla Ashiam of Access Bank Ghana, Pearl Entsua-Mensah of the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre and Dr. Michael Addaney, University of Energy and Natural Resources discussed green bonds, sustainable financing models and the importance of meeting international Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards.
They stressed that without affordable capital, SMEs, the backbone of Ghana’s economy, cannot transition to greener operations, and called for tailored financial products that lower entry thresholds for smaller players.
The second plenary explored Green Innovation and Technology as a catalyst for sustainable economic growth. The discussants were Ibrahim Adle Muhammad, Energy, Sustainability & ESG Analyst, Dr. Gloria Boamah Kusi, Senior Sustainability Officer, Jospong Green Transition Office, Frank Adu Anim of the Chamber of ESG & Sustainability Ghana and Prof. Michael Tuffour of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD). The discussion centred on practical pathways towards a circular economy.
The panelists advocated a transition away from linear consumption patterns, take, make, dispose, towards systems that convert waste into valuable industrial inputs. Real-world examples from waste-to-energy projects and recycling ventures illustrated that sustainability and profitability are not mutually exclusive.
