Kofi Adu Agyarko wins 2023 Haagen-Smith Clean Air Award for Environmental Justice
The Director of Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change at the Energy Commission, Kofi Adu Agyarko, has won the 2023 Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award for Environmental Justice.
He is among four recipients of the award organised by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to recognise individuals who have made transformative contributions toward improving air quality or addressing climate change.
The other winners are Richard C. Flagan, Professor at California Institute of Technology (Research); Prashant Kumar, Professor at the University of Surrey, UK (International Education); and Vickie Patton, General Counsel at Environmental Defense Fund (Policy).
A statement issued by CARB revealed that Mr Agyarko was being honoured for his decades of leadership in energy efficiency and conservation policies in Ghana, particularly his fight against environmental dumping where wealthy nations ship outdated refrigerators and air conditioners with harmful refrigerants to developing countries.
The awards, considered California’s premier air quality recognition, are named after CARB’s first chairman Dr Arie Haagen-Smit, who linked Southern California’s smog to automobile emissions. The ceremony will take place on October 24 at CARB’s monthly meeting in Sacramento.
In a separate statement issued by the Energy Commission, the Executive Secretary, Oscar Amonoo-Neizer, said the award recognises their “extraordinary work in bringing to the attention of the Montreal Protocol the importance of responsible marketing in developing countries of efficient cooling equipment with climate-friendly refrigerants.”
Responding to the honour, Mr Agyarko expressed gratitude to his colleagues and the government for their support, adding that, Ghana’s enterprises and customers deserve recognition “for their collaborative efforts to promote national prosperity through the implementation of clean air policies.”
BY TIMES REPORTER
