Engage CSOs on draft Energy Transition Plan for buy-in - Government urged

The Africa Pro­gramme Officer of the Natural Resource Gov­ernance Institute (NRGI), Denis Gyeyir, has called for more stakeholder engagement on the Energy Transition Plan (ETP).

That, he said, would ensure the buy-in and acceptance of all stakeholders of the ETP.

Mr Gyeyir made the call at the 2023 Budget – Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Budget Forum and Post-Budget Analysis organised by the NRGI in Accra last Thursday.

The meeting provided opportunity for the CSOs to dis­cuss the 2023 budget statement and economic policy and proffer suggestions for its implementa­tion.

Mr Gyeyir also urged govern­ment and the Ministry of Energy to engage CSOs on the final draft energy transition plan for the inputs and comments.

“We noted in the budget that Ministry of Energy had finalised the Energy Transition Framework which is to provide the path to achieving net zero emission by 2070, therefore it was import­ant for more engagements for sustainable utilisation of Ghana’s natural resources,” he advised.

He said CSO inputs and com­ments would be crucial to come out with a document that would meet the needs and aspirations of the country.

Ghana is developing an Energy Transition Plan as part of measures to diversify from hydrocarbons in order to combat climate change.

Mr Gyeyir called on govern­ment to consider transferring Jubilee Oil Holdings Limited (JOHL) shares to Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and ensure proceeds of liftings go into the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF).

He lamented that government was still not prioritising enough in terms of allocation of Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) funds, making it difficult to un­dertake legacy projects.

“We proposed this but was conspicuously missing in the revenue measures proposed by the government, if this is done revenue stream would not be lost to some offshore company whose beneficial owners are unknown,” he said.

The Programme Officer said spreading petroleum revenues thinly on so many projects was not helping the country and ensuring value for money for financial resources from the coun­try’s hydrocarbons.

“Looking at the four prior­ity areas for government thus,

 agriculture, physical infrastructure and service delivery in education and health, roads, rails, other critical infrastructure and indus­trialisation, maximum impact for citizens needs to be ensured to realise the full benefits of the production of oil and gas in Gha­na,” he stated.