Countering Obstruction and Policy Capture in the Energy Transition

The technology, economics, and knowledge for a successful energyEnsuring universal access to sustainable, dependable, and affordable energy is critical to every aspect of prosperity. Increasing public oversight and transparency in the energy sector can help to ens... More transition are in place. Solar and battery costs have fallen by over 90 percent in fifteen years. Renewables are now cost-competitive almost everywhere. Global clean energy investment hit USD 2.3 trillion in 2025—double the amount going to fossil fuels.

Yet the global policy response has stalled. After two decades of accelerating climate action, progress plateaued in 2021, and began to reverse in some countries. Part of this is a lack of ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... or high costs. But more often than not, powerful interests, especially fossil fuel industries, are behind this slowdown.

This report, produced with the support of the KR Foundation, examines how deliberate obstruction by vested interests undermines the energy transition. It then looks at how open government can serve as a strategic counterforce. To illustrate this, the report presents in-depth profiles of four countries (Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom), mapping how obstruction operates and what open government can do about it.

As the obstruction of energy transition policy has evolved, so too must the toolkit to counter it. The aim of this report is to identify potential actions that reformers inside and outside of government can undertake to clear the path for cleaner, cheaper, and more abundant energy.

Looking ahead, this report offers a key framing that can be applied beyond the energy transition. The same dynamics of concentrated interests, governance capture, and information manipulation play out across other domains where OGP works, from political financeProviding for transparency in the funding of campaigns, political parties, and democratic politics is an essential accountability mechanism for democratic government and is a growing focus area in OGP... More to public health to extractive industriesApplying open government values of transparency, participation, and accountability to extractive industries can decrease corruption, safeguard community interests and needs, and support environmental .... Climate inaction is a human-created problem, and thus has solutions that can also be created by humans.

The OGP Support UnitThe OGP Support Unit is a small, permanent group of staff that work closely with the Steering Committee and the Independent Reporting Mechanism to advance the goals of the Open Government Partnership.... would like to thank our co-convenors who facilitated the convenings in each country studied in this report: TransparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More International Brazil, Natural Resource Governance Institute Mexico, Bantay Kita, and UK Open Government Network.

This report has been written with the support of the KR Foundation.

The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More and do not reflect the position of the KR Foundation.