The World Bank has begun to implement technical assistance funded by PROBLUE, an umbrella Multi-Donor Trust Fund Partnership that supports integrated and sustainable economic development in healthy oceans.
As a result, a multi-sectoral team has secured a 1.5 million US dollars PROBLUE grant for the implementation of “Improving Framework Conditions for Reducing Marine Litter and Pollution in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana.
Dhruva Sahai, Acting Country Manager, World Bank Ghana, said the project is being implemented by various global practices namely, Environment, Urban, Poverty and Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation as well as IFC.
Speaking at World Bank PROBLUE Stakeholder Workshop on Marine Litter and Pollution in the Greater Accra Region, Dhruva Sahai said, the team had been on the ground for the past week for the advancement of these activities and stocktaking of the existing landscape in Ghana.
The Acting Country Manager of World Bank Ghana said “This Workshop is organized as part of their efforts to bring in global know-how and hear more from stakeholders on action towards plastics pollution.”
Dhruva Sahai stated that the World Bank also had other programs aimed at addressing plastics pollution.
This, according to the Acting Country Manager of World Bank Ghana, includes the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project, a $ 200 million investment project aimed at reducing the amount of solid waste, including plastics flowing into the Odaw river basin through improved solid waste management and infrastructure.
Dhruva Sahai noted that another project is in preparation under West Africa Coastal Areas Program, known as WACA.
This project according to the Acting Country Manager of World Bank Ghana also involved targeted interventions to tackle plastics pollution.
The private sector, local non-governmental organizations, and informal sector, Dhruva Sahai said, had key roles to play.
The Acting Country Director of World Bank Ghana said “Only by working together on financing, innovative technologies, and policy reforms would see progress towards a Ghana that is free of plastic pollution.”
Dhruva Sahai noted that there is a need for policy reforms to create market incentives to value plastics including extended producer responsibility and a need for greater capital investments from the private sector in physical infrastructure such as collection, transfer, and sorting facilities and recycling facilities among others.
Oliver Boachi, Special Advisor to the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation in his delivery said there are many initiatives currently underway to deal with the many dimensions of plastic pollution and marine litter in the country.
These initiatives according to him had been designed to complement each other and ensure that there are no duplication and that there is effective coordination.
All these initiatives, he added, are designed to ensure that Ghana is managing plastics over the full life cycle.
The Workshop was on the theme: “Improving Framework Condition for Reducing Marine Litter and Pollution in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana.”
