Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Protected area / relocation · Ghana · 2021

Accra's Agbogbloshie scrap market demolished in July 2021

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 2 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

The Agbogbloshie scrap market in Accra was demolished in July 2021, displacing between 4,000 and 10,000 scrap dealers. Record dioxin levels in local eggs, reported in 2019, show the contamination at stake for nature.

What?
The Agbogbloshie scrap market in Accra was demolished in July 2021. Citi Newsroom
Where?
Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana Citi Newsroom
When?
July 2021 Citi Newsroom
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Scrap dealers at Agbogbloshie — lost their site; between 4,000 and 10,000 were displaced and bought new land with their own money Citi Newsroom
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Demolition of the scrap market; dealers rejected the government's offer and bought new land with their own money. Citi Newsroom
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Citi Newsroom reported that the Agbogbloshie scrap market in Accra was demolished in July 2021.

It said between 4,000 and 10,000 scrap dealers were displaced, and that they rejected the government's offer and bought land at Teacher Mante with their own money.

IPEN reported in 2019 that eggs from the site had record dioxin levels, with one egg at 220 times the daily limit.

The Daily Graphic reported in 2023 that burning at the site had dispersed after the demolition and that the land had become an illegal dump.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: dealers moved to Old Fadama, closer to homes, after the demolition.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: returns to the site began in 2025.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say who ordered the demolition or what the government's offer contained.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say who gained from the demolition.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    2. The vexed issue of Agbogbloshie
      Daily Graphic · 2023

    Communities and civil society

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Bonds and banking

    Guarantee
    A commitment by a third party, often a development bank, to pay if the borrower does not.
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