Joy Sustainability Month: Ghana makes progress on SDGs but 2030 deadline unlikely – Dr Acquaah

Environmental and Climate Scientist, Dr Ezekiel Acquaah, has acknowledged that Ghana is making notable progress towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), though the 2030 target may not be fully attainable.

Speaking on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, August 18, as part of the station’s Sustainability Month segment, Dr Acquaah, who is also a Research Fellow at the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies of the University of Ghana, acknowledged the country’s efforts so far.

“It is possible, we have achieved some, and we are still on it. I want to believe that we will achieve it, even if we don’t achieve all, we have achieved some substantial amounts of the SDGs.”

He, however, stressed that with just five years to the global deadline, the pace remains challenging. Dr Acquaah suggested that extending the time frame beyond 2030 could give Ghana a better chance to consolidate gains and achieve the goals in full.

“What I know is that work is ongoing to achieve something to some extent. In fact, with the Millennium Development Goal, they couldn’t achieve everything within the period and so they extended; so you could see that there are similarities between the Millennium Development Goals and the SDGs so it’s likely that we may not achieve everything but we may have to extend it into the next couple of years after 2030,” he said.

“It doesn’t mean we are not doing well, in exams you can score 70% to 80% and if you do not score 100% it doesn’t mean you have not done well,” he stressed.