The environmental protection agency, EPA, has launched an updated environmental sensitive atlas to guide and respond to potential oil spills.
The atlas identifies and details all sensitive assets along Ghana’s coastal landscape stretching from Aflao in the volta region to new town in the western region.
Human development is associated with a range of pressures and related impacts including habitat loss and pollution on environmental assets.
Environmental sensitivity atlases are spatial tools that display relative sensitivity of areas to a given pressure.
They are used by decision-makers to aid in the understanding of where sensitive assets are located and for the planning and management of industrial operations to minimize environmental and social risks.
Atlases can support the screening of areas for development, feed into the environmental impact assessment process, or inform the emergency response plans designed for industrial incidents.
There have been a range of approaches developed for different geographical areas and sectors, addressing a variety of issues but are knot coordinated.
Ghana’s first environmental sensitivity atlas was produced in 1986, which was paper based.
That was reproduced in 2004 using the geographic information system, GIS.
However, the discovery of oil in Ghana in 2007 has led to changes in the dynamics hence the new approach.
The executive director of the environmental protection agency, Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu, launched the new atlas in Accra.
He said the emergence of the upstream oil and gas sector had increased the risk of all spills to human, ecological and economic resources within the coastal zones of Ghana.
The atlas according to him would guide the response team on the best approach to addressing oil spills by any transiting vessel or spill by oil companies operating on the 550-kilometre shores of the country.
Dr Kokofu noted that the oil spill incidents were a wake-up call for the country to take proactive steps to deal with any unforeseen occurrence to protect marine lives.
Dr Kokofu also spoke about the significance of the atlas to the coastal environment.
“This is to ensure that a response will be managed effectively, preparations for a spill is a responsibility that is shared by both government and industry. In the event of a spill, all involved parties must act collaboratively and with a degree of coordination to achieve the highest level of response effectiveness,’ he noted.
He said the programme components included the management of petroleum resources as such, the revenues from the sector and the environmental aspects of oil exploration and production.
Minister Counsellor/ Deputy Head of Mission at the Norwegian Embassy, Kyrre Holm, said the collaboration had yielded positive gains by contributing to the establishment of dedicated oil and gas units that had helped enable EPA to process environmental impact assessments, issue permits and conduct inspections.
The environmental policy for the oil and gas sector has been developed through a series of consultation rounds and expert assessments.
this has resulted in a set of regulations on pollution control from petroleum exploration and extraction had been finalized through the partnership.
Holm said the atlas would help decision-makers plan industrial and other operations with due consideration of environmental and social risk.
It will be critical for preparedness related to petroleum-related activity and can also be useful for planning land use in the coastal zone.
“We welcome that the maps in the atlas will be published on the web, as this will increase transparency in and strengthen access to crucial information for the sustainable development of Ghana’s coast,” he said.
Holm reiterated that despite success stories like that of Ghana, the Norwegian government * had decided to phase out the Oil for Development programme globally by the end of 2024.
He said the impacts of climate change and the global goal of energy transition to ensure sustainable development had occasioned that decision.
Norway, he announced would enhance its cooperation with Ghana under the Norwegian Oceans for Development programme, of which key aspects of the environmental component of Oil for
By Peter Quao Adattor
