Greater Accra Region Air Quality Management Plan

The growing rural-urban migration and increase in population in Ghana, may exacerbate the already inadequate infrastructure available to manage pollution in urban areas. The cities of Accra and Tema host most of the country's industries, some of which use old technologies and emit pollutants above the permissible levels. The vehicle fleet of Ghana continues to increase with the population of registered vehicles as of 2020 being 2.754million (DVLA 2020). The Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) has the highest number of registered vehicles of about 1.387605 million (50.3% of the national fleet). These issues, including those associated with the informal settlements arising from rural-urban migration, if not addressed holistically, could pose serious risk to ambient air quality and public health in the Greater Accra Region.

Ghana EPA estimates that 2,800 lives were lost in 2015 in the Greater Accra Region due to air pollution. This number is projected to increase to approximately 4,600 premature deaths per year by 2030, if no action is taken to reduce current and projected air pollution levels. Implementing this Air Quality Management Plan can reduce the 2030 estimate by 430 each year. Additionally, negative health outcomes associated with air pollution, such as Asthma cases, missed school and workdays, can be reduced.

The development of this comprehensive Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) for the Greater Accra Region is a step towards addressing the negative impacts related to air pollution. This plan complements the National Development Planning Commission's process which seeks to encourage the Local Government to take up the development challenges of their jurisdiction and improve the lives of citizens.

Key features of this plan include:

• baseline air quality characterization and projected emission trends;
• health burden estimates;
• source-specific and ambient air quality standards;
• air quality monitoring network;
• the goals and objectives of the AQMP;
• gaps and issues affecting air quality management; and
• detailed implementation plan to address the gaps.
   

The plan is expected to be updated in five years to take advantage of emerging issues, technologies, and statistics to ensure the continual improvement of air quality and its attendant health implications in the Greater Accra Region.