Ghana’s comprehensive energy transition policy, guided by the National Energy Transition Framework (2022–2070) and the Energy Transition and Investment Plan, has established a long-term roadmap to tackle climate change while fostering economic growth.
However, the policy, like others, is yet to be translated into anything meaningful as the country is still struggling to integrate into its key Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) and even the private sector.
Journalists at a three-day media engagement at Oyibi in the Kpone Katamanso Metropolitan Assembly of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana were aback to hear that Ghana has not yet integrated the transition policy to its national life.
Samuel Bekoe, a member of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) in his presentation, said: “It is quite unfortunate that Ghana has an energy transition policy. We have an investment plan for the energy transition. But we have not integrated the energy transition into our MDAs and our national life”.
By now, each ministry would have indicated what they are doing to contribute to the energy transition policy, he added.
For instance, the Ministry of Transport would have told the citizens what it is doing to contribute to the policy.
“I am the energy ministry, this is what I am doing to contribute to the policy. I am in the youth development ministry. This is what I am doing to contribute to the policy. Sadly, we don’t have that because we haven’t integrated it into our MDAs”, Mr Bekoe stated.
He told the journalists at workshop organised by PIAC for members of the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) and Parliamentary Press Corps that energy transition is progressive. “So, whether we like it or not, there is going to be a transition”.
Predictions
“I can predict in the next 10 years all our vehicles will be electric. When you sit in an electric vehicle now, your conviction will be, I have to buy one.
So, in the next 10 years, all of us are going to use electric vehicles. That is going to cut the consumption of petroleum when it comes to transportation”.
It is imminent
It may take 50 years or 100 years for us to achieve transition. But it is imminent. So, countries have started discussing how to cut their dependency on petroleum.
Some are always working hard to produce all their hydrocarbons or petroleum products for consumption now before the era of energy transition arrives.
So, at PIAC, we have started asking questions about energy transition and what the government is doing about energy transition, Mr Bekoe said.
Rationale of the National Energy Transition Framework
The average global temperature has seen a gradual increase since the Industrial Revolution. The average global temperature has seen a gradual increase since the Industrial Revolution, the Policy said.
This is due to anthropogenic anthropogenic Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. emissions.
As a result, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 13 and the Paris 2015 Agreement were adopted to combat climate change and its effects. its effects.
Despite modest efforts made since the Paris Agreement, global emission levels are still rising and fall far short of the Agreement’s ambitions.
This necessitates the acceleration of efforts to achieve net-zero GHG emissions. below the Agreement’s ambitions.
Ghana must commit to transition to net-zero GHG emissions for the following reasons: potential threat to energy security; reduced funding for fossil-related projects; potential stranded assets; job losses; potential royalties and revenue loss in the oil and gas sector; and access to the global green market.
The policy lays out a framework for decarbonising the energy sector and reaching net-zero emissions by 2070 while ensuring socioeconomic growth and the use of Ghana’s natural resources.
Ghana’s Ministry of Energy, in collaboration with other sector Ministries – Transport, Environment, Science and Innovation, Finance, Lands and Forestry, Water and Sanitation, has produced this Framework by 2070 to provide a roadmap for Ghana’s socioeconomic transition while ensuring the use of Ghana’s sustainable natural resources. development.
Pomp and pageantry
Ghana launched the Energy Transition and Investment Plan, which is estimated to require up to $550 billion in investments in New York, US, with pomp and pageantry on 21st September 2023 during a Global Africa Business Initiative event.
Why the Plan
Without further action, Ghana’s emissions could rise from 28 Mt CO2e in 2021 to over 140 Mt in 2050. Under Business As Usual (BAU), the bulk of emissions growth will come from transport, driven by population growth, GDP per capita growth, and vehicle ownership.
Alternative Net Zero pathways consider five country-level objectives or guiding principles: environmental sustainability, energy system costs, economic impact, social implications, and security of supply.
Ghana could achieve Net Zero CO2 emissions by 2060, through the deployment of low-carbon solutions across all sectors. A 2060 target could achieve an orderly transition, balancing public-policy objectives.
Four main decarbonization technologies will anchor an Orderly Transition. Together, renewables, low-carbon hydrogen, battery electric vehicles and clean cookstoves cover over 90% of 2060 abatement.
Socio-economic impacts and financing needs
In a Net Zero scenario, Ghana would need around $550 bn in capital investment to 2060 (USD 140 bn more than under BAU), with the majority of investment going to the power and transport sectors. Delivering this investment could drive new economic activity in the energy sector and beyond, potentially supporting an additional 400 thousand net new jobs by 2060.
Capital markets could provide the largest funding pool, but tapping these sources will require de-risking interventions, according to the Plan.
The path forward
There is a set of clear next steps to drive the implementation of a pathway, underpinned by strong governance, a clear timeline and cadence of interaction, and supportive policies.
