The Green Project

Vodafone Ghana and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the Green Project on 23 July 2010 to help integrate climate change issues into telecommunications in Ghana.

The two-year GH¢150,000 project is being financed by Vodafone Ghana as part of a wider strategy to establish an early warning system for disaster prevention and recovery in Ghana.

The project, which will be coordinated by a steering committee and a team of four technical experts from the EPA and Vodafone Ghana, will develop systems to allow identification and rollout of Next-Generation Networks (NGN) that will help reduce energy consumption by 40 per cent and lead to overall efficiency.

Ms Sherry Ayittey, the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), commended the both organisations for the initiative and called for closer collaboration of all telecommunications industry players with the MEST.



She said the collaboration should be in their dealings with respect to the mounting of communication masts, to help reduce their possible impact on communities during disasters.
Ms Ayittey said telecommunication was considered among the sources of greenhouse gases, contributing 25 per cent globally through upstream and downstream energy-use and produced emissions that add to climate change.

"As heroes they can be part of the solution by providing a channel for mass education and help decarbonise other sectors of the economy by involving other industry players in their activities to help suppress the dreadful effect of climate change," she added.

Mr Edwin Provencal, Vodafone representative, said management considered the initiative as part of its corporate social responsibility in approaching its business.

He said the company had already initiated some green projects including the efficient use of energy in its operations, control of emissions and radiation within the guidelines of the EPA, as well as seeking to extend the network to some remote parts of the country using low energy equipment which was primarily solar powered.

Mr Provencal said other technologies such as forced air cooling, which reduces the need for air-conditioning, deep cycle batteries which could eliminate or reduce the use of generators and introduction of low energy lightening, all geared towards reduction of the impact of its networks on climate change.

He said the project would also generate, review and collate existing data on climate change and the telecommunication industry.