The Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission, Mr. Oscar Amonoo-Neizer, has disclosed that Ghana requires more than US$562 billion to achieve its net zero carbon emission target by 2070.

Mr. Amonoo-Neizer, addressing colleague industry players at PwC West Africa’s Climate Change & Sustainability webinar, themed ‘Post-COP27: Outcomes and next steps’, communicated that the programme was initiated in 2020 and is a long-term framework with an estimated 200 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide target throughout the 50-year period.

“Looking at the amount of money needed, the carbon market implementation will help to alleviate some of the financial burdens to accelerate getting to the goal. This is the same in most African countries.”
Mr. Oscar Amonoo-Neizer

According to the Energy Commission Chief, fossil fuels, especially natural gas will continue to be part of Ghana’s energy mix in the short-term, adding that energy transition could come with challenges, including lower demand in the downstream petroleum sector.

“It is important for the African continent to focus on innovation and diversification to thrive and mitigate the impact of transition.”
Mr. Oscar Amonoo-Neizer

Dr. Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, Head-Nigeria Energy Transition Office, explained that his country is pitching for an initial US$10billion from international funders to kick-start an energy transition plan.

According to Dr. Umar-Sadiq, Nigeria aims to put itself on a path to achieve net zero emissions by 2060 with an array of strategies including reliance on gas as transitional fuel.

Dr. Umar-Sadiq further disclosed that, a price-tag of US$410billion has been estimated for key strategies to enable Nigeria– a far bigger economy than Ghana – reach net zero by 2060.

Net zero refers to the balance between amount of greenhouse gas produced and that removed from the atmosphere. Net zero is reached when the amount of carbon added is no more than the amount taken away.

Sector Transition To Achieve Net Zero Emission

The President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo, in a statement disclosed that Ghana recognizes the energy and transportation sectors as key areas in reducing emissions. “Consequently, steps must be taken to transition these sectors towards a net-zero emissions future,” he said.

To attain this, the President divulged that Ghana must transition to the production and utilization of clean energy and the implementation of measures to mitigate any emissions that occur in the process. “This will ensure that Ghana contributes her quota to the reduction of global GHG emissions, and, more importantly, achieve decarbonization, energy access and security, and energy efficiency,” he added

“We have developed National Energy Transition Framework, which is aimed at decarbonizing the energy sector. This is a long-term net-zero framework (2022-2070) expected to complement existing efforts with new measures, such as increased renewable energy penetration, conversion of thermal plants to natural gas and the integration of nuclear power into the energy mix.”
His Excellency Nana Akufo Addo,

His Excellency emphasized with Optimism that Ghana’s transition will be achieved in a just and equitable manner.

“In doing so, Ghana is not oblivious to the need to balance her commitment to net zero, and the urgent need to transform her economy through the exploitation of the natural resources with which she has been endowed. Ghana has discoveries of critical (green) minerals, including lithium and graphite in significant quantities.
“We recognize that the exploitation of these resources for the transition comes with opportunities, and we are determined to extract these resources, and make efficient use of them through value addition to establish Ghana as a hub for electric vehicles and the production of battery technologies.”
His Excellency Nana Akufo Addo