IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v34y2026i2p2359-2370.html

Mining for a Sustainable Future: Exploring the Drivers of Green Practices in Ghana's Extractive Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Frederick Asiedu Amakye
  • Albert Ahenkan

Abstract

Amid global calls for sustainable resource management, limited research explores the drivers of green mining adoption in Ghana's extractive sector. This study examines how regulatory frameworks, investor expectations, institutional commitment, and community advocacy shape sustainable mining practices, drawing on institutional theory and the Natural Resource‐Based View (NRBV). Using qualitative interviews with mining firms, regulators, and community leaders, findings show that regulatory enforcement, investor pressure, and local engagement drive initiatives such as wastewater recycling, tree planting, and land rehabilitation. However, weak legislation and limited adoption restrict progress. The study recommends stronger emission regulations, financial incentives for clean technologies, and improved monitoring systems. It concludes that institutional and community pressures are vital for sustainability but require greater governmental coordination to achieve systemic change. The paper advances understanding of sustainable resource governance and contributes to SDG 12 (Responsible Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

Suggested Citation

  • Frederick Asiedu Amakye & Albert Ahenkan, 2026. "Mining for a Sustainable Future: Exploring the Drivers of Green Practices in Ghana's Extractive Sector," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(2), pages 2359-2370, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:34:y:2026:i:2:p:2359-2370
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.70406
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.70406
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.70406?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kristel Buysse & Alain Verbeke, 2003. "Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 453-470, May.
    2. Klessmann, Corinna & Held, Anne & Rathmann, Max & Ragwitz, Mario, 2011. "Status and perspectives of renewable energy policy and deployment in the European Union—What is needed to reach the 2020 targets?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7637-7657.
    3. Frederick Armah & Isaac Luginaah & Justice Odoi, 2013. "Artisanal small-scale mining and mercury pollution in Ghana: a critical examination of a messy minerals and gold mining policy," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 3(4), pages 381-390, December.
    4. Gilbert K. Amoako & Anokye M. Adam & George Tackie & Clement Lamboi Arthur, 2021. "Environmental Accountability Practices of Environmentally Sensitive Firms in Ghana: Does Institutional Isomorphism Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-14, August.
    5. Magali A. Delmas & Michael W. Toffel, 2008. "Organizational responses to environmental demands: opening the black box," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(10), pages 1027-1055, October.
    6. Cosmina L. Voinea & Bas-Jan Hoogenberg & Cosmin Fratostiteanu & Hammad Bin Azam Hashmi, 2020. "The Relation between Environmental Management Systems and Environmental and Financial Performance in Emerging Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-21, July.
    7. Prince Amoah & Gabriel Eweje, 2023. "Organisational drivers and sustainability implementation in the mining industry: A holistic theoretical framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5602-5614, December.
    8. Dyck, Alexander & Lins, Karl V. & Roth, Lukas & Wagner, Hannes F., 2019. "Do institutional investors drive corporate social responsibility? International evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(3), pages 693-714.
    9. Anthony Bebbington & Denise Humphreys Bebbington, 2018. "Mining, movements and sustainable development: Concepts for a framework," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(5), pages 441-449, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marcos Carchano & Inmaculada Carrasco & Angela González, 2025. "Examining environmental proactivity in the Spanish wine industry: The moderating role of size," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(1), pages 127-157, January.
    2. Cao, Dongxin, 2025. "The impact of green investor entry into buyer firms on supplier green innovation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    3. Huei‐ting Tsai & Chia‐Ju Chuang, 2025. "The Generativity Mindsets of Corporations: A New Perspective on Ecological Responsiveness," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(5), pages 5141-5157, July.
    4. James J. Cordeiro & Giorgia Profumo & Ilaria Tutore, 2021. "Family ownership and stockholder reactions to environmental performance disclosure: A test of secondary agency relationships," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 2091-2107, May.
    5. Jeremy Galbreath & Chia‐Yang Chang & Daniel Tisch, 2023. "The impact of a proactive environmental strategy on environmentally sustainable practices in service firms: The moderating effect of information use value," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5420-5434, December.
    6. Oksana Seroka‐Stolka, 2023. "Towards sustainability: An environmental strategy choice, environmental performance, and the moderating role of stakeholder pressure," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5992-6007, December.
    7. Runhui Lin & Yuan Gui & Zaiyang Xie & Lu Liu, 2019. "Green Governance and International Business Strategies of Emerging Economies’ Multinational Enterprises: A Multiple-Case Study of Chinese Firms in Pollution-Intensive Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-32, February.
    8. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    9. James J. Cordeiro & Giorgia Profumo & Ilaria Tutore, 2020. "Board gender diversity and corporate environmental performance: The moderating role of family and dual‐class majority ownership structures," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1127-1144, March.
    10. Yi-Hui Ho & Cheng-Kun Wang & Chieh-Yu Lin, 2022. "Antecedents and Consequences of Green Mindfulness: A Conceptual Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-19, May.
    11. Chien‐Ming Chen & Maria J. Montes‐Sancho, 2017. "Do Perceived Operational Impacts Affect the Portfolio of Carbon‐Abatement Technologies?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(3), pages 235-248, May.
    12. Dai, Jing & Montabon, Frank L. & Cantor, David E., 2014. "Linking rival and stakeholder pressure to green supply management: Mediating role of top management support," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 173-187.
    13. Sharma, Revti Raman, 2025. "Environmental strategic role orientations of multinational enterprises: Different shades of green," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(5).
    14. Florackis, Chris & Muktadir-Al-Mukit, Dewan & Sainani, Sushil & Zhang, Ziyang (John), 2025. "Stock market reaction to mandatory carbon disclosure announcements: The role of institutional investors," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    15. Qiang Liu & Lianchao Yu & Guowan Yan & Yu Guo, 2023. "External governance pressure and corporate environmental responsibility: Evidence from a quasi‐natural experiment in China," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 74-93, January.
    16. Schmidt, Tobias S. & Schneider, Malte & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2012. "Decarbonising the power sector via technological change – differing contributions from heterogeneous firms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 466-479.
    17. Md. Shajul Islam & Mohammad Rabiul Basher Rubel & Md. Mahedi Hasan, 2023. "Environmental and Social Performance of the Banking Industry in Bangladesh: Effect of Stakeholders’ Pressure and Green Practice Adoption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-24, May.
    18. Leal, Ana R. & Husted, Bryan W. & Flores Segovia, Miguel Alejandro, 2021. "Environmental performance spillovers among Mexican industrial facilities: The case of greenhouse gases," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 711-720.
    19. Ivan Miroshnychenko & Danny Miller & Alfredo Massis & Isabelle Breton-Miller, 2025. "Are family firms green?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 279-306, February.
    20. Wenlong He & Wei Yang & Seong-jin Choi, 2018. "The Interplay Between Private and Public Regulations: Evidence from ISO 14001 Adoption Among Chinese Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 477-497, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:34:y:2026:i:2:p:2359-2370. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.