Invest in natural capital for sustainable development — Speakers

Speakers at a capacity-building workshop on natural capital accounting (NCA) have called for deliberate investment in natural resources to ensure sustainable development.

They said this would require decision-makers to implement policies that would help preserve the environment and protect natural resources from degradation.

The speakers were the Assistant Chief Statistician at the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), Dr Bernice S. Ofosu-Baadu; the Director of Development Coordination at the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Winfred F. A Nelson; the Deputy Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Abu Abdul Hanan, and the Director of Economic Statistics at the GSS, Edward Asuo Afram.

In separate statements, they also underscored the need for the media and civil society organisations (CSOs) to work closely with strategic state institutions to safeguard the country's natural resources for future generations.

The training workshop for media practitioners and CSOs which was organised in Accra yesterday was meant to provide participants with relevant information on the country’s NCA processes and the way forward.

Context

Natural capital encompasses both renewable and non-renewable resources. It includes natural resources that are easily recognisable and can be measured, such as minerals, energy, timber, agricultural land, fisheries and water.

Others are ecosystem services which are not so visible such as air and water filtration, flood protection, carbon storage, pollination of crops and habitats for wildlife.

The NCA is a set of data for natural resources compatible with the system of national accounts, which forms the basis for calculating gross domestic product (GDP) and other economic indicators. 

Significance

Dr Ofosu-Baadu said the challenges posed by global climate crisis, biodiversity loss and other environmental excesses made the adoption of NCA crucial.

She said when the NCA was mainstreamed into the country's accounting regime, it would help to adequately measure the assets and liabilities of the nation’s natural resources for sustainable development.

Dr Ofosu-Baadu, therefore, stressed the need for stakeholders, particularly the media and CSOs to work with state institutions championing the NCA process to help influence decision-makers to mainstream it into development policies.

Mr Nelson also said that NCA was important for development planning because it would provide ample evidence for decision- makers to roll out realistic policies.

"We have been sounding the trumpet of sustainable development all the time, but we need evidence for policymakers to be convinced to take decisions that will engender change," he added.

Mainstreaming NCA

Mr Hanan also said that when NCA was properly adopted, it would give a holistic picture of the country’s wealth and liabilities to help strike a balance.

“For far too long, we have measured the country's wealth and progress primarily through traditional economic indicators that fail to capture the true value of our natural capital.

“By accounting for the true value of our natural capital, we will understand the trade-offs involved in development decisions and ensure our sustainable progress,” he said.

For his part, Mr Afram said forests, wildlife, biodiversity and minerals were critical resources that needed to be adequately measured and accounted for.