The ceremony, which took place in Somanya, Eastern Region, coincided with the university’s third commencement lecture, which was on the theme: “Securing our Environment: Our Water, Our Future.”

The items were unveiled by Professor Eric Nyarko-Sampson, UESD’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Jonathan N. Ayertey, Chairman of the UESD’s Governing Council, and Mrs Mary Abena Agyepong, UESD’s Registrar.

Mrs. Agyepong noted that the university’s cloth would promote student cohesion and good behaviour while the flag with the school motto would identify the school and inspire it to work towards the goal.

The student handbook, on the other hand, will serve as the central reference for student affairs.

The University of Environment and Sustainable Development was founded in August 2020, with the motto “Securing the Environment.” Its goal is to produce graduates who are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to be change agents in the environment and sustainable development.

Reverend Dr. Anthony Appiah Duah, former Head of Groundwater Division, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Water Research Institute (CSIR-WRI), and event speaker, gave a brief statement on Ghana’s current and future water resources.

He noted that the current available water resources per capita were approximately 1700 m3/cap/year. The total withdrawal amounts to approximately 20.4 per cent of the country’s total available renewable water resources.

Irrigation accounts for 70 per cent of total water use, while domestic use accounts for 20 per cent and industrial use accounts for 10 per cent.

Water stress, he explained, was a concept for quantitatively evaluating the availability of water resources, whereas water scarcity was a function of available freshwater and human population or socioeconomic conditions.

Water scarcity can be seen in reduced river runoff, declining groundwater tables, heavily polluted waters, and rising water treatment and supply costs. This, he attributed to physical, economic, or environmental factors, as well as natural and man-made ones.

“Ghana is currently experiencing water stress conditions, but this is quickly deteriorating into water scarcity,” he said, adding that “the decrease in water quality is primarily caused by turbidity.”

To address these issues, he stated that the government must improve water infrastructure in rural areas, particularly in Northern Ghana, and take corrective measures to repair damaged infrastructure in urban areas.

Dr. Duah said regulatory agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Minerals Commission, and Forestry Commission should carry out their assigned roles and responsibilities to halt illegal mining activities and take the necessary steps with stakeholders to reclaim degraded lands and restore water bodies to perform their ecological functions.

He said to limit pollution to clean water sources, citizens must resolve collectively to refrain from: disposing of solid and liquid waste into water bodies, excessive use of agro-chemicals on farmlands, indiscriminate destruction of forest reserves, and unauthorized sand-winning near water bodies.