Dr. Alexander Nti Kani, an environmental and climate economist at the Centre for Climate Change & Food Security (CCCFS), has clarified the seeming conflict between allowing the importation of fuels with high sulfur content and the government’s emphasis on imposing taxes on car emissions.
Dr. Nti Kani is concerned about Ghana’s carbon emission policy because he believes that the importation of dirty fuels poses a greater hazard than the apparent hypocrisy.
Rather than taxing imports, he said the government might better match its policies with international fuel quality standards and maximize the revenue from ongoing carbon reduction programs.
According to Dr. Nti Kani, “adopting clean, low-sulfur fuel with less than 30 ppm as a priority aligns with sustainable development goals and offers several compelling advantages.” He highlights that purchasing cleaner fuels helps to mitigate environmental issues by lowering emissions of sulphur dioxide, a significant air pollutant that is harmful to both the environment and human health.
Moreover, by drastically lowering the carbon footprint, switching to greener fuels supports international efforts to mitigate climate change. According to Dr. Nti Kani, this not only demonstrates environmental responsibility on a global scale but also backs international efforts to mitigate climate change.
Dr. Nti Kani promotes investing in cleaner fuels as a possible catalyst for the expansion of the cleaner energy industry from an economic standpoint. The promotion of sustainable technologies has the potential to create jobs in sustainable industries, in contrast to the potentially onerous consequences of imposing emissions taxes on businesses and consumers.
Dr. Nti Kani says, “A strategic and comprehensive approach addressing environmental, economic, and social considerations is to focus on clean and low-sulfur fuel, rather than taxing emissions.” Adopting cleaner fuels can help Ghana move toward a more ecologically friendly and sustainable future, improving public health, and the country’s standing internationally, and leveraging the benefits of World Bank agreements.
Dr. Nti Kani urges a review of Ghana’s environmental laws, proposing a change to cleaner fuels and a more open and comprehensive strategy to reduce carbon emissions.
