The State of Environment and Development Policy in Ghana

<p dir="ltr">Tackling critical contemporary challenges such as climate change, poverty and injustice requires knowledge co-creation and collaboration to inform decision-making that is based on local, national and global participation. With this in mind, the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) has instigated mutual learning hubs in several global locations, including Ghana. These hubs create spaces for researchers, governments and civil society to convene knowledge from diverse perspectives, helping to improve understanding of complex issues.</p><p dir="ltr">The Ghana Development Studies hub focuses particularly on contemporary environmental challenges facing the country and has produced this paper as an overview of the status of six such issues in the mid-2020s. The paper examines mining, waste management, biodiversity and forestry, agriculture, climate change, and the coastal and marine environment. The relationship between the environment and development is usually one of antagonism, despite the existence of general and specific legislation that tries to curb negative environmental effects of conventional development. The failure of policy to limit negative effects such as pollution is largely attributed to poor implementation resulting from inadequate resourcing, a lack of connection between relevant authorities, and sometimes local political and geopolitical dimensions. A minority of examples point to more complementary relationships between environmental concerns and economic development, for example redefining development as comprising social, environmental, and economic development. The paper suggests areas for future environmental research in Ghana. Examining such questions is part of the task of addressing practical environmental problems while linking to a theoretical agenda.</p>