Main points

• Corruption and conflicts of interest are embedded in the energy transition process due to the strong links between political power, private wealth (especially from extractive industries), and public office holders.
• Existing anti-corruption regulations are often vague, fragmented across different legal instruments, and suffer from inconsistent enforcement, which creates loopholes susceptible to manipulation.
• Progress in renewable energy uptake is slowed by the enduring influence and interests of fossil fuel incumbents who benefit from subsidies that keep coal an artificially cheap and viable energy source.
• The Just Energy Transition Partnership is vulnerable to misallocations due to concentrated decision-making power, limited transparency in project selection, and insufficient involvement of national anti-corruption bodies and civil society in its planning.
• Improving transparency of beneficial ownership and strengthening the monitoring and sanctioning of conflict of interest violations are possible pathways to build greater anti-corruption resilience, though these institutional efforts alone are insufficient to fully address state capture dynamics.