Support industries to invest in greenhouse gas reduction - AGI advocates

Industries are advocating for funds to enable them to invest in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction and abatement options.

This would promote sustainable practices in the low-carbon chemical industry and drive innovation and encourage the shift towards environmentally friendly processes.

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of recent time; long term commitment and ambitious action towards GHG mitigation is required by practically all sectors of the economy.

The chemical industry is not only a fundamental cornerstone of modern life and the manufacturing industry that depends to more than 90 per cent on chemicals and chemical products.

It also accounts for around 10 per cent of the world’s final energy demand and 7.4 per cent of global GHG emissions.

A Chemical Engineer and Managing Consultant of Blue Alliance, Michael Ampeh Boateng, said industries are performing well, however, a lot has to be done when it comes to education and financial support.

“This is a green area and there is so much work that has to be done.

 The industries need some funds for them to rely on to implement energy-efficient measures to mitigate environmental impact, cut down operational expenses and promote sustainable practices within the industrial sector,”

He was speaking during a presentation of a study on “Training and Advisory Activities on Climate Protection for Chemical Industries in Ghana,” at a stakeholders’ dialogue organized by the Energy Service Centre (ESC) of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and the Climate Action Programme for Chemical Industry (CAPCI) in Accra on Tuesday.

The event was to present the report on the activities carried out under the second part of CAPCI and give insights on the results of the additional data collection, further identification of capacity building requirements and training carried and assisting companies in signing and implementing efficient mitigation measures.

Ghana is one of the three focus countries of the global Climate Action Programme for Chemical Industry (CAPCI) project together with Argentina and Thailand.

The report under the CAPCI project aims to enable key actors in selected developing countries and emerging economies to identify and tap mitigation potentials in chemical production and associated value chains.

To this end, the project will strengthen the capacities of key actors for effective climate protection in the chemical industry.
 

Key findings

The study underscored the importance of education and training in facilitating well informed decision-making within the chemical sector.

According to the study, there exists a knowledge gap regarding the guidelines for chemicals, emphasising the necessity of comprehensive educational initiatives.

The study also identified areas for improvement in aspects related to GHG inventory, mitigation, ozone protection, and waste management, thereby highlighting the potential for heightened awareness, training, and technology adoption.

Several deficiencies in current management practices were brought to the forefront, including challenges in monitoring GHG emissions, insufficient staffing for inventorying and protection, and the imperative for capacity-building efforts.

Notably, companies exhibited a strong willingness to embrace renewable energy, enhance resource utilization, and improve process efficiency to curtail GHG emissions.
 

Operating sustainably

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AGI, Seth Twum Akwaboah, said his outfit was balancing production for consumption with environmental and ecosystem concerns.

He said “for us as an association we want our companies to be responsible, because we are experiencing climate change and it is affecting us negatively so we all have a responsibility to contribute to improving it through emission that is happening through activities to promote efficiency.

Because if we are efficient in our operations, it impacts on the bottom line and our cost of production could come down to enable us to reduce our prices and become more competitive in the market.”

He assured that the association remains committed to encouraging its members to be compliant, more responsible and operate sustainably to support the whole ecosystem.