The new government to be formed after this year's election must commit to more ambitious energy transition timelines and to actively attract investments into the renewable energy sector, says the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Alliance in Ghana's extractives and environmental governance sectors.
The alliance, consisting of four coalitions and eight organisations, emphasised the importance of incentivising oil and gas companies in Ghana to invest in downstream beneficiation activities within the green minerals sector.
These recommendations, along with 14 others, have been put forth by the CSOs for political parties to consider incorporating into their manifestoes leading up to the 2024 general elections.
At a press conference held in Accra yesterday, the Convener of the CSOs Alliance, Dr Steve Manteaw, said the recommendations represent a roadmap for sustainable development, economic stability, and good governance for the country.
According to him, the alliance sought to collaborate with political parties to ensure that the policies put forward in the 2024 elections address the pressing issues faced by the country and pave the way for a brighter future.
"We remained committed to engaging with political parties and advocating policies that will benefit all citizens and contribute to the overall development of Ghana," he added.
He recommended that the next government leverage the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), 2011 (Act 815) to finance the Energy Transition agenda, as development of alternative energy sources (often interpreted as Renewable Energy) as one of 12 priority areas outlined in the PRMA.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"Parties must also commit to revisiting the stalled process of amending the PRMA," he added.
Dr Manteaw said the next government should also activate article 15 of Ghana's Petroleum Agreement which emphasised domestic supply requirement for crude oil to domestic refineries to enhance upstream and downstream synergy while ensuring economic stability, reduction in oil importation, job creation and efficiency within the oil and gas sector.
He said committing to addressing the gas sector indebtedness would improve efficiency in the power sector and reform the corporate governance of State-owned Enterprises in these sectors.
"The next government must commit to fostering institutional alignment in the gas sector and provide innovative financing for gas infrastructure to enhance gas monetisation and the effective use of gas as a transition fuel," he added.
The CSOs, also recommended that the parties consider leveraging the country's vast forest and corporate-sponsored afforestation initiatives to obtain carbon credits from other nations or large emitting companies through carbon trading.
This, they said was key for raising additional finance to invest in research and development in green technologies, adding that, Ghana's potential to sequester, including planned interventions by some oil companies operating in the country, must be evaluated for this purpose and have a national policy developed to guide implementation.
