Ghana¡¯ s Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) program is currently developing and finalizing its land and ecosystem extent, as well as ecosystem services accounts, and discussing the application of these accounts in policy and investment decisions. The accounts are expected to be published by early 2025.
As part of the capacity building engagements under the program over 50 journalists and civil society organization (CSOs) representatives were trained at a one-day capacity-building workshop on NCA in Accra on 6th of August, 2024. The overall objective of the engagement was to equip the media and civil society with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand, interpret, and effectively communicate as well as advocate for NCA.
In her welcome remarks, Dr Ofosu-Baadu, Chief Statistician at the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and National Co-Coordinator, Ghana NCA Program, said the challenges posed by global climate crisis, biodiversity loss and other environmental excesses made the adoption of NCA crucial. ¡°When NCA is mainstreamed into the country's economic accounting system, it would help to accurately measure the assets and liabilities of the nation¡¯s natural resources for sustainable development¡±, she said. She therefore appealed to stakeholders, particularly the media and CSOs to work with state institutions in championing the NCA process, to help influence decision-makers and mainstream it into development policies.
In separate statements, the Director of Development Coordination at the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Winfred F. A Nelson; the Deputy Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Abu Abdul Hanan, and the Director of Economic Statistics at the GSS, Edward Asuo Afram, representing the three NCA coordinating institutions, highlighted the need for the media and civil society organizations (CSOs) to work closely with the state institutions to preserve the country's natural resources for future generations.
Mr. Hanan said&²Ô²ú²õ±è;¡°we consider the media and CSOs to be our strategic partners in this NCA journey and the broader environmental protection mandate. The media, for instance, have a crucial role in setting the agenda and communicating the importance of Natural Capital Accounting to all relevant stakeholders.¡± Mr Afram believes that forests, wildlife, biodiversity and minerals are critical resources that needed to be adequately measured and accounted for whilst Dr. Nelson called for an urgent need for sustainable development, stating that evidence-based advocacy is essential to influence decision-makers.
The workshop also had some technical presentations on the overview of NCA program in Ghana, on the policy relevance of NCA in sustainable development, and on NCA for media and advocacy. The apex of the training was a panel discussion on Leveraging Natural Capital Accounting for Sustainable Development in Ghana: Challenges, Opportunities, and Effective Communication Strategies. This in-depth discussion focused on the current state of NCA in Ghana, the challenges and opportunities in implementing NCA for sustainable development in Ghana, practical strategies for communicating NCA concepts and findings to various stakeholders and potential collaborations between government, media, and CSOs in promoting and implementing NCA.