Participants at the meeting
A coalition of 22 civil society organisations (CSOs) working in the environment, natural resources and governance sectors has endorsed key recommendations of the Constitution Review Committee (CRC) and called on government to urgently publish a roadmap and timelines for implementing constitutional reforms.
The organisations, meeting under the auspices of the Citizens’ Platform on Constitutional Reform (CPCR), said the CRC’s report, “Transforming Ghana: From Electoral Democracy to Developmental Democracy,” proposes significant reforms to strengthen the governance of Ghana’s environment, land, energy and natural resources.
The CSOs welcomed recommendations to entrench a public trust doctrine in the Constitution, vesting minerals, water resources, public lands and other natural resources in the people of Ghana, with the State holding them in trust for present and future generations.
They also backed proposals for stronger parliamentary oversight of resource agreements, the establishment of a Natural Resource Commission, Community Benefit and Heritage Funds, and the adoption of constitutional principles such as intergenerational equity, free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), and the precautionary principle.
The groups further supported the proposal to make ecocide a constitutional offence but urged Parliament to clearly define the offence and establish strong enforcement mechanisms, including public interest litigation and annual audits.
However, they raised concerns about the absence of provisions to operationalise citizens’ environmental responsibilities under Article 41(k), the omission of the polluter-pays principle, and the lack of protection for environmental defenders.
The coalition also called for the establishment of a specialised Environmental and Natural Resources Court.
Citing the ongoing galamsey crisis and accelerating loss of forests and water resources, the CSOs urged government to immediately publish the full CRC report and provide a clear legislative and referendum timetable to ensure environmental reforms are not delayed or weakened.
The statement was endorsed by the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, SEND Ghana, Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL), KASA Initiative Ghana, Friends of the Earth Ghana, Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF Ghana), Africa Assistance Plan, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN Ghana), Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), CDD-Ghana, HATOF Foundation, Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND),
Nature & Development Foundation (NDF), Agrointroductions Ghana (AiG), ABANTU for Development, Centre for Extractives and Development Africa (CEDA), Advocates for Biodiversity Conservation, Merton & Everett LLP, West African Primate Conservation Action (WAPCA), Eco-Conscious Citizens, Youth Alliance for Green Ghana (YAGG), and A Rocha Ghana.
The coalition said it remains ready to support civic education and technical engagement to ensure the voices of affected communities remain central to the constitutional reform process.
