Step up action on environmental protection - Church, political leaders charged

Political and religious leaders must do more to curb environmental degradation, including illegal mining, as both have fallen short of expectations, an academic has said.

Speaking at a public lecture organised by the Global Theological Seminary (GTS), a tertiary institute of the Global Evangelical Church, Associate Professor at the Akrofi Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture, Rev. Prof. Ebenezer Yaw Blasu, said progress in protecting the environment remained slow due to lapses on the part of politicians and the church.

“Personally, I think we can do more. I don’t know the reason we are not doing up to what expectations should be,” he said at the lecture held in Accra last Monday evening on the theme: “Fostering Environmental Sustainability through Religious Advocacy”.

Prof. Blasu indicated that politicians had a duty to enforce the law by issuing licences only to qualified operators, while the church had a biblical mandate to care for creation.

He expressed concern that some church members and even churches themselves were involved in activities that damaged the environment.

“Incidentally and unfortunately, the church also is not meeting the expectations to the extent that, as we saw in the research work, even some church members and some churches are owning the mining sites themselves,” he said.

He called on church leaders to begin teaching their congregations that destroying the environment was contrary to Christian teaching.

“If Christians teach their members to know that destroying the environment will lead to their own destruction by God, according to the book of Revelation 18:11, they will stop doing what they are doing,” he said.

Prof. Blasu also urged churches to support communities where illegal mining, known as galamsey, was prevalent by providing alternative livelihoods. 

Environmental stewardship

For his part, the Moderator of the Global Evangelical Church, Rt Rev. Prosper Samuel Dzomeku, called on churches to take a leading role in promoting environmental stewardship amid rising degradation in Ghana.

He said the country’s forest cover had declined by over 40 per cent since 2000, from 8.2 million to 4.9 million hectares, driven largely by illegal mining and unsustainable practices.

“Scholarly research has long revealed that religious traditions inherently promote environmental respect and preservation.

Yet, the exploitation driven by modern capitalism has led to catastrophic environmental harm,” he said.

Citing Genesis 1:28 and 2:15, he said Christians had a biblical mandate to care for creation and urged churches to use their moral influence to advocate sustainable practices.

“Over 71.3 per cent of Ghanaians identify as Christians, providing a moral voice that can inspire behavioural change.

The church must rise as a moral compass — advocating for policies, educating communities and leading by example,” Rev. Dzomeku stated.

Advocacy

The Chairman of the Governing Council of the GTS, Prof. Sampson Kwaku Agodzo, also urged faith-based organisations to take a leading role in advocating environmental sustainability.

He said the Bible mandated humanity to manage the earth responsibly, not exploit it recklessly.

He lamented that greed and overexploitation had led to illegal mining, deforestation and pollution, causing loss of lives, contaminated water and degraded land in Ghana.

Prof. Agodzo said the church, as “the moral compass and prophetic voice of the nation,” had a duty to integrate environmental consciousness into its teachings and mobilise congregations for action.