Religious bodies, civil society groups unite to combat air pollution and e-waste injustice in Ghana

Religious bodies, civil society groups, and academia are joining forces to demand the adoption of practical measures that protect the environment against human-induced air pollution and e-waste injustice in Ghana. According to the State of Global Air 2025 report, over 32,000 deaths recorded in 2023 alone are attributable to air pollution. Clean Air Ghana, in collaboration with the Presbyterian Relief Services and Development, organized a community sensitization and awareness campaign in the Sokoban and Anloga communities in the Ashanti Region.

Dr. Lawrencia Osae-Nyarko, a researcher at the Biomedical and Research Unit of the Water Research Institute under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), highlighted critical gaps in Ghana's air quality monitoring infrastructure. She said, "Ghana has a standard, which means that some considerations have been made when it comes to monitoring and even having the standards to tell us whether we are within the limit or not. However, its implementation and enforcement is always a challenge." Dr. Osei-Nyarko urged, "Ghana should be moving to citizen science when it comes to air pollution," and called on stakeholders to invest in cleaner alternatives. Emmanuel Nyarko Ankamah, Coordinator for Presbyterian Relief Services and Development, emphasized that the core objective of the initiative is to raise public consciousness about the environmental harm caused by pollution, and to translate that awareness into behavioral change.

Emmanuel Nyarko Ankamah also called on the government to take a more proactive role in addressing the crisis, particularly by providing the resources and incentives that communities need. He said, "We are working with key stakeholders and we want the government to come in to also provide some of the essentials that these communities need to address some of these things."