A professor in environment and development at the University of Reading Chukwumerije Okereke has reiterated the need for managers of Ghana’s Oil and Gas resources to avoid making the same mistakes Nigeria has made with its vast oil resources.
The comment was made during a panel discussion on the plans of African governments’ on climate action, amidst oil and gas extraction, as part of the ongoing 6th Africa Oil Governance Summit (AOGS), which is being organized by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP).
Aside from rampant bribery cases in oil related deals in Nigeria, Ghana has been advised repeatedly to ensure its laws and policies relating to the environment; extractive industry, allocation and management of oil resources are continually reviewed and updated to suit changing times and conditions.
On the subject of the implication of Climate Change Action on Oil Governance in Africa, Professor Okereke, advised Managers of oil and gas resources across the continent, to collaborate with relevant stakeholders and also prioritize planning to ensure Africa is able to successfully transition from fossil fuel to relatively cleaner energy sources.
The ongoing 2-day Africa Oil Governance Summit (AOGS) seeks to make climate change response a key feature of oil governance in Africa, by taking a holistic view at the various concrete actions that African governments, climate financiers, the business community, and people living in Africa can take to enable Africa feature prominently in the green revolution.
About the Africa Oil Governance Summit (AOGS)
The Africa Oil Governance Summit (AOGS) is the flagship programme of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP). Instituted in 2015, the AOGS is convened annually in Accra, the capital of Ghana. The main goal of the Summit is to shed light and address pertinent governance and development issues pertaining to the management and use of oil and gas resources across the African continent. The AOGS thus creates an avenue for, and brings together, stakeholders in the oil and gas industry across Africa and beyond to deliberate on efficient and effective approaches to engender sustainable and inclusive development through exploitation of Africa’s oil and gas resources.
Speakers, panellists, and participants are drawn from the public sector (government/state institutions), the private sector (local and foreign companies/businesses in the upstream and midstream petroleum sector), academia, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), development agencies/partners, and local and international media. The Summit has, since 2015, recorded about 1,100 direct participants with a yearly average of about 250. This excludes virtual participants who are engaged through both the electronic and social media.
Objectives of the summit
The Summit seeks to make climate change response a key feature of oil governance in Africa by taking a holistic view at the various concrete actions that African governments, climate financiers, the business community, and people living in Africa can take to enable Africa feature prominently in the green revolution.
The specific objectives of the Summit are to,
- Support African governments to set climate action agenda for the oil and gas industry in anticipation of COP26
- Increase knowledge on climate finance options ahead of COP26 negotiations
- Explore how businesses can decarbonize their activities in upstream oil and gas industry and support Africa’s green revolution efforts
- Increase citizens’ knowledge about climate change to support climate action in and outside Africa’s oil and gas sector.
Key output
After the Summit, ACEP will collaborate with experts to, based on key points from the Summit, develop a policy document that outlines important areas of agreement on climate action in and outside the oil and gas industry, and implementation options, to aid African governments in their collective negotiations at COP26.
Key outcome
African governments, through their foreign Ministries, will be engaged to adopt the policy document and commit to include same in key areas of negotiations at COP26.
The document will also inform Ghana and other African countries in updating their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Format of the Summit
There will be four panel sessions in two days:
- An expert panel to discuss government plans on climate action amidst oil and gas extraction.
- How does the state of climate finance expertise in Africa affect access to the Green Climate Fund?
- A business panel to discuss options available to oil and gas companies in decarbonizing their operations.
- An active citizenship panel to discuss the importance of, and avenues for, citizenry engagement on the climate discourse to advance responsible climate action and innovation in Africa. There will also be a presentation that discusses why Africa should care about climate change and the importance of citizenry engagement on the subject matter.
