Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Minister of Energy, says Ghana is on course to achieve net-zero by 2060 through many initiatives, including clean cooking technologies and deployment of renewables.
He explained that the country was working towards increasing the proportion of renewable energy in the national energy mix from 42.5 megawatts to 1,363.63 megawatts.
Dr Prempeh announced this in a statement delivered on his behalf at the opening of the 11th edition of the West African Clean Energy and Environment Trade fair and conference (WACEE ’23) in Accra.
The conference was on the theme, “Leading a Sustainable Transition.”
The WACEE 23 brought together stakeholders and policymakers to deliberate on clean energy, circular economy and water management.
Dr Prempeh hinted the outdooring of the National Energy Transition & Investment Plan which would make an orderly pathway to net-zero for Ghana with an attendant investment demand of about USD 550 billion.
He said, “An effective transition to clean energy in any country requires an approach that strikes a fair balance between environmental objectives on one hand and economic as well as social objectives on another hand.”
The minister said it was only by such an approach that the gains of the transition could serve the economies within which they occurred in a lasting manner.
“In this sense, calls for a just energy transition are in actuality calls for a sustainable energy transition,” she said.
Mr Daniel Krull, German Ambassador to Ghana, said the world had a unique opportunity to leverage existing technologies and innovation to help protect, rather than undermine the environment.
“In other words, West Africa can solve many of today’s problems without compromising the environment. We already have good examples of first movers in areas such as renewable energy or waste-to-energy solutions,” he said.
Mr Burkharadt Hellemann, Delegate, Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana, said there was an urgent need for countries to take steps to mitigate the impact of climate change, one of the planetary crises.
“Together, we aspire to accelerate the region’s journey toward a more sustainable future. We firmly believe that collaboration, especially between Germany and the nations of West Africa, is pivotal to leading this transition,” he said.
GNA