The Jospong Group of Companies (JGC) has entered into a partnership with the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INR) to build the capacity of players in the environment, climate change, waste management and critical minerals sectors.
The capacity-building programme, which spans an initial four-year period, will see the UNU-INR and Jospong Group leverage research and industry expertise to upgrade the knowledge of stakeholders in sound environment practices, green transition, and the management of critical minerals for sustainable development.
The two sides signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the partnership at a side event held at the African Union (AU) Pavilion at the ongoing 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the Brazilian city of Belem.
The conference has brought together over 51,000 delegates from across 193 countries to discuss the vagaries of the climate crisis and to take bold decisions on the way forward.
Jospong Group is one of the private sector delegates participating in the conference.
At the brief MoU signing event last Monday, the General Manager of the JGC Green Transition Office, Dr Glenn Gyimah, signed for his side, while the Director of the UNU-INR, Prof. Fatima Denton, initialled for her institution.
The ceremony was witnessed by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment, Science and Technology, Yaw Frimpong Addo; the Vice-Chairman of the committee, John Darko; and the Ranking Member, Dr Adam Hamza.
Bold initiative
The Chief Sustainability Officer at JGC, Dr Gloria Boamah Kusi, said the MoU was not just a partnership but a shared vision where research and innovation would be leveraged for sustainable development.
She said that as the world continued to take action to save the planet, it was important for cross-border and institutional collaborations for unified interventions to make the desired impact.
"In that regard, the signing of this partnership marks a significant move to work together to solve a common problem confronting humanity.
"Today's partnership marks a vision where research informs action; where technology and policy work hand in hand, and African institutions lead the transformation towards sustainability," she said.
Dr Kusi said the partnership would help to join research and capacity-building projects as part of the partnership to strengthen climate resilience, advance resource management, and support green industrialisation across the continent.
For her part, Prof. Denton described the partnership between the two entities as a giant move towards addressing gaps in knowledge to enhance sustainability in the green space.
She said given that the JGC had diverse areas of expertise, especially in the area of waste management and green transition, the UNU-INR would bring on board cutting-edge research prowess for mutual benefits.
Prof. Denton said she was particularly enthused about the focus on critical minerals as part of the partnership because those resources were the future of Africa.
"As we continue to discover more of these green minerals in Africa, it is important that we chart a path where the minerals facilitate development; a path where the minerals create green sustainable jobs; a path where the minerals are efficiently managed in a transparent way to bring economic value to the society," she stressed.
Solidarity
In a solidarity statement, Dr Adam commended the JGC for taking the bold step to enter into a partnership with an academic and research institution for building capacity in the green space.
He said the agreement had come at a time when there was a clarion call for enhanced partnership across the spectrum to deal with the climate crisis.
"I see this partnership as the bridge between industry and academia, and I urge both parties to take advantage of it.
"I want to also assure you that, for our part as lawmakers, if this partnership ends up in Parliament, we will ensure that it is supported and ratified," he said.
