The “Policy Dialogue for Just Energy Transitions: Identifying Pathways to Prosperity Post Fossil Fuels”, co-hosted by Climate Strategies and Salzburg Global Seminar from September 8 to 12, 2024, brought together policymakers, decisionmakers, and leading researchers from ten oil and gas producing countries as well as representatives from international organisations. They shared and discussed evidence-based approaches to the transition from fossil fuel dependent economies to inclusive, equitable, and sustainable systems. As part of our efforts to ground the dialogue in evidence-based research, we commissioned five in-country briefs exploring just energy transitions in oil and gas producing nations. This briefing provides insights into the energy landscape in Ghana.

Key Takeaways:

• Ghana’s energy transition faces an inherent paradox: there is a strong government push for expansion in oil and gas exploration, alongside commitments for net-zero carbon emissions by 2070. Further oil and gas exploration is considered crucial for structural economic transformation, however, fossil fuel discoveries have yet to translate into concrete developmental benefits for most Ghanaians. 

• More public deliberation is needed in the design of energy transition policies to anticipate equity concerns that have undermined recent interventions, such as the annual emissions levy on petrol and diesel vehicles introduced in February 2024. 

• To maximise the potential benefits of a just energy transition, the government must: revive tools for donor harmonisation, build institutional capacity to optimise energy market regulation, and identify suitable models for sustainable transition financing as part of the National Energy Transition Fund.