Establish a Separate Fund For Emissions Levy- ICEG

The Policy Lead for the Institute of Climate and Environmental Governance (ICEG), Kwesi Yamoah Abaidoo, has advocated for a separate fund to collect revenues from the newly implemented Emissions Levy.

Though the civil society organization is pleased with the tax policy, it is against any plan to use the Consolidated Fund for its collection as it argues that it will prevent accountability and transparency.

Speaking in an interview on Eyewitness News monitored by opemsuo.com, Mr Abaidoo argued that tracking the use of the proceeds from the levy will be daunting if they are dumped into the Consolidated Fund as has often been done.

“I believe that the government has shown commitment toward environmental sustainability by implementing this levy. We have been looking forward towards that for a while, however, as much as this is a step in the right direction, we believe there are certain things which could have been done properly, especially with the management of the fund.”

He proposed an Emissions Fund to ensure accountability on the part of the government.

“We have seen several levies that have been collected being misused, we don’t want the emission levy to be one of those and it’s is the reason we are proposing that rather than depositing the revenue generated from the levy into the Consolidated Fund, an independent fund such as the Emissions Fund would have helped such that it will be more transparent and accountable to the people of Ghana.”

Additionally, his outfit wants proceeds from the levy to be channelled into renewable projects.

“Monies generated from the levy should be used for green-specific projects. It should not be channelled into other projects. Some funds support environmentally-related projects but then we believe that if the money generated is being channelled into renewables, it’s going to be plausible.”

The government rolled out the Emissions Levy in line with its efforts aimed at tackling greenhouse gas emissions to promote the use of eco-friendly technology and green energy.

The levy, which requires motorcycle and tricycle owners to pay GH₵75 per annum, and motor vehicles, buses, and coaches up to 3000 cubic centimeters to pay GH₵150 annually, took effect on February 1, 2024.