Advancing environmental justice in Ghana: Lessons from the US

In Ghana, and most countries of Africa, the only forms of justice we seem to be concerned about are economic justice and social justice.

Environmental justice (EJ) is either an unknown subject in Ghana or an overlooked concept but, in reality, it is intertwined together with our economic and social justice.

This article seeks to raise awareness of EJ in Ghana, drawing valuable lessons from the United States (U.S.), to invite us for a collective action.

So broad is the subject matter that it is nearly impossible to discuss it in a 500-1000-word article without being overly concise at the expense of clarity and comprehensiveness.

I have decided to discuss the topic in 2 parts. The first part will introduce the topic and highlight its relevance to Ghana. The second part will discuss major EJ initiatives by the U.S. and the lessons in them for Ghana.

Poor nations of the world like Ghana need faster economic growth. However, our conventional thinking of economic growth, only in terms of GDP growth, without analyzing what goes into this growth, makes us too open to all kinds of investments and vulnerable to having our country infiltrated by “dirty projects”. Business entities, which otherwise would not meet the strict standards that underline the economic policies in developed countries get an easy pass into our country, often facilitated by Government officials hoodwinked by the wealth of these polluting firms. Sadly, poor residents living in areas of these polluters bear the brunt of the environmental hazards they did not create while being deprived of the environmental and economic benefits. We have also created a situation where poor communities, such as Agbogbloshie, Kpone, or Abokobi bear a disproportionate environmental burden while affluent communities, the likes of Cantonments, East Lagon, Trasacco Valley enjoy a clean environment.

This is what EJ seeks to address: ensuring that poor community members with no political connection have equal rights to a clean environment as those in affluent neighborhoods. EJ is at the core of an equitable share of environmental benefits and burdens, and it should be at the heart of protecting the environment and health of underserved and voiceless communities of society, including future generations.

Why EJ is Needed in Ghana.

Advancing EJ in Ghana is important for several reasons:

• Social Equity: Ensuring that all individuals and communities, regardless of socio-economic status, have the right to live in a healthy and safe environment.
• Human Rights: Access to clean air, water, and a healthy environment is a fundamental human right, and Ghana can uphold and protect the rights of its citizens, particularly those in vulnerable and marginalized groups by embracing EJ.
• Public Health Concern: Public health crises, such as asthma, cholera, and respiratory diseases arising out of environmental issues, can be addressed by EJ.
• Sustainable Development: Addressing environmental injustices in Ghana can promote long-term sustainable development, which is a healthy foundation for true economic prosperity and social well-being.
• Biodiversity Conservation: Ghana is rich in biodiversity, but environmental injustices like deforestation and illegal mining threaten various ecosystems and wildlife. EJ in Ghana would ensure that biodiversity is conserved for present and future generations.
• Climate Change Mitigation and Climate Justice: While a global phenomenon, climate change does not affect all countries equally. As a developing country, Ghana is more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and EJ efforts can contribute to climate change mitigation at our local level and climate justice globally.

While the fight for EJ in the U.S. is far from over, the strides made so far are impressive and worthy of drawing lessons from.

Understanding Environmental Justice

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), “Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.”

The principle is not difficult to understand. Everything around us constitutes the environment – the air we breathe, the water we consume, the land on which we live and produce food, and the neighborhood where we live, play, school, and worship. Justice is about the fair treatment of people. Environmental justice (EJ) is thus the fair treatment of people and community members concerning environmental benefits and burdens. Giving people an equal opportunity to participate in decisions that affect them, and their community, is another aspect of EJ. Yet many communities in Ghana experience environmental injustice.

Environmental Injustice in Ghana

We all know that landfills are not good neighbors to have, yet the people of Kpone in the Greater Accra region alone live next to three adjacent landfill sites that are poorly designed and managed. Even as the dumpsites are overflowing their capacity, between 1500 and 2000 tonnes of waste from all over the capital city is deposited there every day. Samples from the sites have shown the presence of bacteria and microbial (bioaerosols) in the air, and the sites have caught fire on several occasions, emitting hazardous fumes into the air the community breathes. As if that is not enough injustice, the Kpone enclave hosts five thermal power plants (VRA’s Tema Thermal Complex plant, VRA’s Kpone thermal plant, Sunon Asogli power, AKSA power plant, and Cenpower plant) in addition to several other facilities, all of which are polluting the air, water, and land of the people of Kpone. In return, Kpone is one of the least developed and underserved communities in Ghana with dusty and muddy roads coupled with abject poverty. The people are unhappy to be living next to dumpsites instead of enjoying ecosystem services of parks, natural vegetation, wildlife, etc.

Yet, they have endured this injustice for decades because their voices are not heard, and they are not influential and politically connected like their fellow affluent Ghanaians in East Lagon or Trassaco.

The situation is not different in the mining communities. Obuasi, Tarkwa, Wassa Akropong, and Bogoso are but a few of the richestgold regions in Ghana that have suffered a great deal of environmental degradation due to irresponsible mining operations by gold mining companies driven by excessive greed and weak environmental regulations that flame their ruthless and persistent pursuit for profits at the expense of environmental protection and quality of life of the underserved community members. In Obuasi, for instance, where there has been mining for centuries and where one of the world’s richest gold mining companies is located, only harmful impacts are what the people experience in return for the untold wealth of gold that has been exported abroad over the years. Harmful impacts including irreversible forest damage, and cyanide and arsenic-polluted water bodies, the presence of which has been detected in farm produce.  

Historic Context.

Linked to systemic racism and the oppression of marginalized groups, EJ in America has a long history that dates back to the civil rights movement for justice. One of the earliest examples of this kind of discrimination was “redlining,” a government housing program that segregated low-income people, primarily Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), to live in underdeveloped areas far from where the white affluents lived. These marginalized communities became the location of most polluting companies.

By the late 1980s, what started as pockets of protests against this injustice had agglomerated into the EJ movement across America. The most notable EJ protest sparked in Warren County, North Carolina, in 1982 over the decision by North Carolina to site a hazardous waste landfill in a small African-American community. The Warren County protest was marred by the arrest of over 500 activists and was unsuccessful in stopping the siting of the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) landfill in the poor African-American community.

Nonetheless, the event became a national protest, recognized as the impetus for the EJ movement after gaining the attention of several environmentalists and civil rights leaders across America. The Warren County incident also motivated a series of research to establish the correlation between race and waste, culminating in the groundbreaking publication of “Toxic Waste and Race” which identified a correlation between toxic waste sites and low-income communities of color across America. As the movement garnered momentum, the groups pushed for government action to prevent any community, especially the underserved, from being further burdened by environmental pollution.

Unlike the U.S., environmental injustice in Ghana may not be linked to racism but classism – whereby affluent communities enjoy all the environmental benefits while deprived communities suffer a disproportionate environmental burden. Whichever form in which EJ arises, it must be rooted out.

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The author, James Mensah, is an environmental professional and currently a Graduate Public Service Intern at the Office of Environmental Justice, Illinois EPA, USA.

Email: jamemensah@gmail.com