The Minister nominee for Environment, Science, and Technology, Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, has announced his intention to conduct a nationwide audit to assess the extent of environmental degradation in Ghana.

Speaking during his vetting on Thursday, January 30, the Tamale Central MP emphasised the urgent need for concrete data to guide environmental policies and restoration efforts.

“What I can say is that I know that the World Bank financed a project undertaken by the EPA and the ministry to determine the destruction of water bodies and forests. And the report was shocking. When they quantified it, it constituted about 10% of our GDP,” he revealed.

Given these findings, Murtala Muhammed stressed the importance of a comprehensive national audit to establish a clear picture of the damage caused by illegal mining (galamsey) and other harmful human activities.

“If you have an audit that is done, then you have something concrete in hand to work with. But it seems to me that we are engaged in firefighting. You cannot specifically say this is the level of destruction caused by galamsey and other human activities.

"So the first thing I intend to do is to see if we can have a national audit to determine the extent of the destruction, taking into consideration the work that was funded by the World Bank, EPA, and MESTI,” he stated.