GNPC to partner UESD in environmental goals
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Kwame Ntow Amoah, has assured Ghanaians that the company remains ready to partner the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD) in research, talent development, knowledge exchange and joint projects that align with Ghana’s broader environmental goals.
He said the GNPC had a dual mandate to explore and develop petroleum resources that ensured long-term environmental sustainability, stressing, ‘’our operations today are shaped by innovation, responsibility and partnership communities, government, academia and the environment itself’’.
Mr Amoah gave the assurance in a keynote address delivered on his behalf by the Manager, Social Performance and Local Content at the GNPC, Patience Lartey, at the fifth anniversary of UESD at Somanya on the theme: ‘’Partnering for a sustainable future: Energy, environment and innovation’’.
Mainstream considerations
He said the GNPC took steps to mainstream environmental considerations across its activities, including rigorous environmental impact assessments, biodiversity protection, water resource monitoring, flare reduction and partnerships in forest conservation.
‘’Through our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and environmental sustainability activities, we also invest in afforestation projects, coastal clean-up efforts, sustainable livelihoods and environmental education at the grassroots level,” Mr Amoah stated.
He said as a firm believer that the relationship between industry and academia must evolve beyond internships and research papers, institutions such as UESD must be co-creators of solutions, shaping policy, informing innovation and producing the next generation of environmental stewards, engineers, scientists and thinkers.
The CEO of the GNPC said as Ghana worked toward a just energy transition and confronted the realities of climate change, institutions such as UESD were not just relevant, they were essential, adding,‘’ you are helping Ghana write a new chapter where one growth and sustainability are not opposing goals but complementary forces’’.
Solidarity
In a solidarity message by the Managing Director of the Dwumfour Academy, a non-profit organisation which partners UESD, Dr Michael Kwesi Dwumfour, stated that his organisation firmly stood in solidarity with the university to share and join in the launching of four bold and forward-thinking environmental restoration initiatives.
He said resetting Ghana’s degraded and polluted environment lay in their collective spirit to unite and implement sustainable initiatives made possible through UESD’s kind sponsorships, financing, technology sharing, logistics, professional and academic knowledge and unfettered support and participation.
‘’Environmental fight must start from source. So today, we begin from where the issues are most hidden: in neglected policy gaps, informal practices, and communities. Together, we will draw them into the fight for sustainable development and environmental sanctity.
‘’As leading collaborators of UESD, we are privileged to spearhead the implementation of stakeholder engagements-encompassing the Executive, Legislature, the Judiciary, chiefs, traditional leaders, corporate institutions, religious bodies, professional and academic institutions and industries. We are persuaded that our greatest weapon in this fight for environmental restoration should involve teamwork and unity,’’ Dr Dwumfour stressed.
