“EPA will help build capacity for E-waste management by featuring Ghana at an upcoming international E-Waste Management Network webinar.”

In Accra, Ghana, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday announced the agency’s commitments to an array of environmental issues confronting the African continent.

These pledges will improve the technical capacities of African countries to tackle environmental and climate-related problems and involve enormous resources and partnerships from the American government.

“EPA will help build capacity for E-waste management by featuring Ghana at an upcoming international E-Waste Management Network webinar and by providing support for an E-Waste technical expert from the Government of Ghana to participate in an annual IEMN meeting,” Michael Regan, EPA’s Administrator, announced. In partnership with the Peace Corps, the EPA will develop a twinning program between schools in Michael Regan’s home state of North Carolina and Ghana to foster cultural and environmental exchanges of information, Administrator Regan further said. 

Notably, Administrator Regan commended Ghana for having pioneered the generation of high-integrity credits and expressed support for Ghana’s trailblazing jurisdictional REDD+ efforts through the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility’s Carbon Fund and, more recently, the LEAF Coalition. Regan noted that Ghana was one of the first two countries to sign an emissions reduction purchase agreement under the LEAF Coalition, launched on Earth Day in April 2021 by the Biden administration and other bilateral and corporate partners.

Michael Regan also visited Mozambique on his African mission, announcing that the EPA will also work with the Mozambican Government officials to provide technical assistance surrounding AERMOD air modeling software, which uses state-of-the-art technology for air quality monitoring. The EPA will also provide technical assistance and guidance to help the Mozambican Government and civil society more meaningfully engage in public processes around responsible mining operations.

Michael Regan assured the continent that the United States government led by the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration is committed to ensuring all people have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and an opportunity to lead a healthy life. “And we won’t let up until that statement is realized in every corner of the world,” Michael Regan assured everyone.

Michael S. Regan is the first Black man and second person of color to lead the EPA. His Ghana and Mozambique trip was his first mission to Africa since assuming leadership of the environmental body on March 11, 2021.