Green Economy Journal Issue 50

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ISSUE 50 | 2022

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DBSA unlocks the Green Fund

PROTECT OUR MARINE LIFE Seismic Surveys and Exploration Permits

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2022 FORESIGHT: technologies for a sustainable global economy

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JUST TRANSITION: at the coalface

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LOCALISATION: a key economic driver

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PUBLISHER’S NOTE Dear Reader, If 2021 ended pregnant, indeed overdue, with expectations of release from indecision and stalemates, then will 2022 give birth to the long-expected go-forward on energy megaprojects such as RMIPPPP, BW5 of REIPPPP, and several mega private sector PPAs? Winning and celebrations in 2021 were soon followed by legal challenges, permitting disputes, grid capacity limitations, just transitions, pandemics, civil unrest, and a general pouring of treacle on wheels of progress.

Can we just get relief in 2022!? I’ll drink to that! Cheers!

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This year seems to be set for a positive trajectory and surge forward in South Africa’s energy landscape. More and more opportunities are opening and there is an increasing number of vacancies for green jobs being advertised currently.

The South African Wind Energy Association predicts that 2022 will be defined by the accelerated uptake of green power procurement as well as South Africa’s escalating commitment to the climate agenda and several shifts in the energy space due to changes in technological deployment (page 33).

It is anticipated that Bid Window Six will be announced in Q1 2022 and the wind power sector is gearing up to deliver adequate energy to the country. Our article on localisation (page 30) notes that certain parts of the supply chain may emerge to be more strategically placed to cultivate capacity in South Africa than others to be able to be competitive.

If smooth procurement of new energy production continues, in line with the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), this sector is an excellent vehicle for direct infrastructure investment and a positive multiplier of economic effects. For the first time, REIPPPP has introduced the concept of designated local content, which requires developers to procure specific components locally such as steel.

Regarding shifts in the energy space, the Presidential Climate Commission Technical Report on the Just Transition explains that a “just transition” refers to “the management of a transition to a low-carbon society in a balanced and just manner, housed within a given socioeconomic context”.

However, social dialogue has mostly remained at the national level, which may cause challenges because the concerns at national level differ from those at local level (page 26).

On the topic of technological deployment, in our special report on page 12, Lux Research asked its analysts and thought leaders what they think of emerging new technologies, the status of existing technologies and potential scenarios that might unfold in 2022. There has also been a major step forward in the evolvement of the Atlantis Special Economic Zone into an established and world-class green technology investment destination. Over the past few years, the region has emerged as a major player in the green tech sector (page 37).

Wishing you all a power-full 2022.

Alexis Knipe, Editor

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EDITOR: Alexis Knipe

alexis@greeneconomy.media JOINT PUBLISHER AND PRODUCER: Gordon Brown gordon@greeneconomy.media JOINT PUBLISHER AND PRODUCER: Danielle Solomons danielle@greeneconomy.media LAYOUT AND DESIGN:

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All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any way or in any form without the prior written permission of the Publisher. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Publisher or the Editor. All editorial and advertising contributions are accepted on the understanding that the contributor either owns or has obtained all necessary copyrights and permissions. The Publisher does not endorse any claims made in the publication by or on behalf of any organisations or products. Please address any concerns in this regard to the Publisher.

YOU SEE USED BOTTLES. COLLECTORS SEE VALUE. Recycling PET plastic bottles creates over 60 000 income opportunities every year in South Africa. Many of these are reclaimers, who helped divert upwards of 95 000 tonnes of PET plastic bottles from landfill in 2019. The used bottles they collect are recycled, ensuring that they become bottles yet again. This creates yet more jobs in the process, contributing positively to our country’s GDP while eliminating the chance that they end up harming the environment.

Recycling ensures that a circular economy is established where the value of plastic bottles continues indefinitely.

55% POST-CONSUMER

Plastic bottles are not trash.

R278 MILLION

beverage PET bottles collected for recycling.

OVER 50 000

The market value of post-consumer PET bought by PET recyclers. * Reported in 2020

2106099_FP_E

active collectors invloved in PET Collection and recycling.

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ANNOUNCEMENT

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NEWS AND SNIPPETS

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OFFSHORE

DBSA unlocks the Green Fund

SPECIAL REPORT

2022 Foresight: technologies that

support a sustainable global economy Seismic surveys: a rethink on outdated sea-blasting technology is called for

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on’t let the future go to waste.

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By Veolia Services

22 MINING 24 26 JUST TRANSITION 30 ENERGY

Council for Geoscience he new global tailings industry T standard

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At the coalface

ocalisation: a key economic driver L for the wind industry

33 34 37 GREEN TECH 38 FINANCE

Green energy deployment and low-carbon industrialisation on the horizon

S olar PV vs solar thermal vs heat pumps

The green tech economic zone

READ REPORT

30 THOUGHT [ECO]NOMY

greeneconomy/report recycle

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Investors pushing the drive to net zero

To access the full report in our Thought [ECO]nomy report boxes: Click on the READ REPORT wording or image in the box and you will gain access to the original report. Turn to the page numbers (example below) for key takeouts of the report

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key takeouts of the report

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key takeouts of the report

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key takeouts of the report

Our global operational expertise across industrial hazardous and non-hazardous wastes enables us to develop an industry specific waste management plan and implement the most optimal waste management solution. dclm.co.za info.dclm@veolia.com +27 (087) 353 9750

GREEN FUND: COMMITTED TO PRESERVING THE ENVIRONMENT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS WHILST PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN ECONOMY. DBSA UNLOCKS R450M IN THE GREEN FUND The Green Fund is set up GREEN to contribute to a wide range of goals towards transitioning to a greener DBSA UNLOCKS THE FUND

• Supporting local green building technologies Supporting a just transition to a low carbon economy through: • Accelerating technologies that support beneficiation of local mineral resources • Exploring opportunities that have the potential to catalyse initiatives that drive a “just transition” • Supporting “greening” within the transport sector • Supporting green building technologies • Supporting local resilience within the water sector • Accelerating green technologies that support beneficiation of local mineral resources • Developing and funding waste management programmes • Supporting “greening” within the sectortechnologies to promote the development of the • Promoting market-based adoption of transport integrated biogas renewable energy sectorwithin the water sector • Supporting resilience • Providing support for youthwaste development (includingprogrammes skills development and enterprise development) within a • Developing and funding management greening context.

• Promoting market-based adoption of integrated biogas technologies to promote the development ofFunding the renewable applicationsenergy are nowsector open here www.dbsa.org • Providing support youth development (including skills development and enterprise We are DBSA. Buildingfor Africa’s Prosperity. development) within a greening context.

Funding applications are now open here www.dbsa.org We are DBSA. Building Africa’s Prosperity.

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economy, including the financing of projects and programmes that reduce the impact on climate change.

The Green Fund is set up to contribute to a wide range of goals towards transitioning to a greener economy, including the financing of projects and programmes Supporting a just transition to a low carbon economy through: that reduce the impact on climate change.

• Exploring opportunities that have the potential to catalyse initiatives that drive a “just transition”

ANNOUNCEMENT

DEVELOPMENT BANK OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

UNLOCKS GREEN FUND The Development Bank of Southern Africa, a government-owned development finance institution, has announced the availability of funding towards green economy development projects and programmes in the Green Fund.

BY DBSA

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he Geen Fund has been set up to contribute towards a wide range of goals in transitioning to a greener economy, including the financing of projects and programmes that reduce the impact on climate change.

The main objectives of the Green Fund are to promote highimpact, innovative, low-carbon, inclusive programmes, while reinforcing climate policy objectives and sustainable development imperatives that fall in line with social, economic, and environmental priorities. There is also a focus on building an evidence base for the advancement of a climate-resilient, inclusive economy, together with the mobilising and leveraging of additional resources to support the country’s low-carbon economy.

The Green Fund’s current focus areas include: • Supporting a just transition to a low-carbon economy through: • Exploring opportunities that have the potential to catalyse initiatives that drive a just transition such as new/emerging energy generation and storage technologies • Supporting local environmentally friendly building technologies that promote the use of energy efficient materials for sustainable human settlements • Accelerating green technologies that support beneficiation of local mineral resources • Supporting greening within the transport sector • Supporting resilience within the water sector including wastewater treatment programmes in consultation with all relevant government and private sector stakeholders • Developing and funding waste management programmes and projects including initiatives such as national solid waste programmes within municipalities, establishment of material recovery facilities, waste pelletisation etc

The Green Fund investment criteria are designed to support the National Development Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals.

• Promoting market-based adoption of integrated biogas technologies in small, medium, and micro-scale enterprises to promote the development of the renewable energy sector and the green economy.

• Providing support for youth development (including skills development and enterprise development) within a sustainability context.

The Green Fund investment criteria are designed to support the National Development Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals. As such, it will prioritise projects with clear environmental benefits which align with important environmental or climate policies; have the potential to improve the delivery of public goods and services; support transformation objectives; support the development of the local labour market, with improved opportunities for employment and green skills development; promote sustainable socio-economic development; support the capacity of a committed project sponsor to oversee and implement the project, while providing financial as well as management capacity for operations and maintenance, together with a high degree of sponsor/partner participation in co-funding the project.

To apply for funding, send an electronic introduction of the project to greenfund@dbsa.org. The introduction should include: • Incorporation certificate • Comprehensive business plan • Latest audited annual financial statements • Financial projections for at least three years Applications should demonstrate commercial viability and will be assessed through a competitive process. The Green Fund will also consider projects that are in advanced stages of development and are strategically aligned with the objectives of the Green Fund and demonstrate strong potential to reach bankability with the support of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). The DBSA has the sole discretion to respond to multiple green economy objectives in making its selection, including climate, environmental impact, and gender mainstreaming potential for the project.

For more information about the Green Fund, visit www.dbsa.org

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NEWS & SNIPPETS

ESG INVESTMENTS SURGE

Sovereign wealth funds (SWF) are the latest class of investors increasingly focusing on sustainability-centred products.

Their involvement comes as investors continue to push asset managers to focus on ESG products. According to data acquired by Finbold, sovereign wealth funds investments in the ESG space globally surged 215.27% between 2020 and 2021, from $7.2-billion to $22.7-billion. Over the same period, the number of deals increased from 19 to 37.

In 2021, SWFs’ involvement in the oil and gas space dropped 46.92% to $6.9 billion from 2020’s figure of $13-billion. Last year also recorded the lowest deals in oil and gas at eight.

The report highlights the implications of increased SWFs investment in various sustainable-focused funds. According to the research report: “Last year’s growth indicates that the ESG

space has a financial appeal for investors, and SWFs play a crucial role. In general, the SWFs are uniquely positioned to promote the global environmental, ESG agenda and investing in certain products is the first step.”

COCA-COLA SUS

By Xolile Mtembu, IOL Coca-Cola Africa has announced the launch of JAMII, a new platform that focuses on sustainability in Africa. JAMII is a Swahili word that means community, society and people. The platform houses new and existing sustainability initiatives, and the company hopes to attract like-minded partners to help accelerate the on-the-ground impact of its initiatives. JAMII will expand on past accomplishments in three areas: water stewardship, economic empowerment of women and youth and waste management.

TREASURY ON ENERGY PREMIUM NOTICE

SUSTAINABILITY-LINKED CREDIT FACILITY

Imperial is pleased to announce the successful conclusion of a R1-billion sustainability-linked revolving credit facility with Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB).

Nedbank developed a R1-billion sustainability-linked debt instrument under which Imperial aims to deliver on mutually pre-agreed sustainability performance targets over the debt term. The savings obtained through this ESG facility from Nedbank will be deployed into green projects that will contribute to Imperial achieving its ESG ambitions.

According to Brad Maxwell, managing executive of investment banking, CIB, “Nedbank increasingly uses ESG indicators to identify opportunities it can progress in partnership with its clients. The Imperial transaction is an example of one such opportunity and has been implemented at a time when Imperial is focusing its business operations to become the logistics and market access gateway to Africa.”

GERMAN GRANT FOR GREEN HYDROGEN

Minister of Finance published a notice for the Renewable Energy Premium in the government gazette (Gazette No: 45654) last year for Section 6(2) of the Carbon Tax Act (No. 15 of 2019).

The Carbon Tax Act makes provision for taxpayers conducting electricity generation activities to offset the costs of purchasing additional renewable electricity against their carbon tax liability for the first phase of the carbon tax until December 2022. A notice setting out the renewable energy premium rates per kilowatt hour for eligible renewable energy technologies for the 2019 tax period was gazetted in June 2020 (Gazette No. 43453). Taxpayers, requested clarity on the rates to be used to determine the tax deduction for the 2020 tax period, as the applicable renewable energy premium rates were limited to the 2019 tax period.

To address the concerns raised by taxpayers, a draft renewable energy premium notice was published for public comment in August 2021 clarifying that the renewable energy premium rates were applicable for the 2020 tax period.

The gazetted 2021 Notice for the Renewable Energy Premium gives effect to the removal of the limitation of the tax period for which the rates would be applicable. Any future adjustments of the renewable energy premium will be made by way of an announcement in the Budget.

The gazette: (www.treasury.gov.za).

South Africa’s green hydrogen economy could benefit from as much as €40-million (~R702-million) in grant funding from the German government.

The Presidency has partnered with German development agency GIZ for the initiative H2.SA. The initiative specifically promotes the development of a green hydrogen economy in South Africa through the development of a strategic and regulatory framework. The German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development has offered €12.5-million (~R220-million) grant funding support for H2.SA. About €2.5-million (~R44-million) of the grant funding is committed to the South African German Energy programme (SAGEN)-CET with and €25-million (~R440-million) is allocated to a financial cooperation project, Promotion of Green Hydrogen. The German government, through its development bank KfW, has made a separate commitment of €200-million (~R3.5-billion) of concessional finance for investments in the energy sector.

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NEWS & SNIPPETS

ENERGY IN BUILDINGS

A Green Building Council South Africa’s (GBCSA) partnership with the Carbon Trust, made possible by funding and support from the UK PACT (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions) programme, will help South Africa get to grips with energy efficiency in the country’s existing building stock through operationalising Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs).

The EPC regulations were made effective in 2020, requiring public sector buildings greater than 1 000m² and private sector buildings greater than 2 000m² to obtain an EPC by December 2022.

“Because of their significant contribution to South Africa’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions profile, buildings are a key part of South Africa’s decarbonisation challenge. Energy efficiency in buildings is a good low hanging fruit to target and set the ball rolling towards net zero,” says GBCSA CEO, Lisa Reynolds (pictured left).

EPCs also provide much needed data to assess what proportion of the country’s emissions can be attributed to buildings, and how a focus on energy efficiency can contribute towards South Africa’s Nationally Determined Contributions reduction targets.

Karl Bremer building in Belville, which is owned by the Western Cape Provincial Government and is one of the 30 buildings where EPC audits took place.

The project is led by the Carbon Trust, supported by the GBCSA and some of the immediate priorities are creating awareness, developing an enabling environment for the EPC mechanism, and establishing a National Building Energy Performance Register. This will be managed by SANEDI and DMRE.

JSE GUIDES DISCLOSERS

The JSE has launched its Sustainability and Climate Disclosure Guidance consultation papers to promote transparency and good governance and guide listed companies on best practice in ESG disclosure. JSE Group CEO Leila Fourie (right) says: “In response to the rapidly evolving landscape of sustainability standards and frameworks, this guidance provides JSE-listed issuers with guidelines specifically tailored to the South African context, whilst being fully cognisant of global best practice.

It is intended that this Disclosure Guidance will serve as an umbrella for sub-topic guidance as needed, with the first such guidance on Climate Disclosure, to be released at the same time.”

Shameela Soobramoney, JSE Group Chief Sustainability Officer says: “There is a growing expectation on business to play a role in the shift towards stakeholder capitalism, coupled with a growth of investor interest in ESG issues.

This shift in expectations creates the opportunity for stock exchanges to play a role”.

The JSE has long been recognised for its pioneering role in promoting strong governance and sustainability/ ESG disclosure globally, through such initiatives as its progressive listings requirements incorporating the King Codes into the listing rules, its pioneering 2004 SRI Index, and its activities as a founding partner of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative, a signatory to the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment, a member and past chair of the World Federation of Exchanges’ Sustainability Working Group and more recently as co-chair of the Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance and member of the Net Zero Service Providers Alliance.

A local perspective The considers the many ESG metrics currently available and highlights those that are generally well-established, universal, industry-agnostic and material to sustainable value creation.

This includes the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards, the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures recommendations, the IFRS’s ISSB’s prototypes, and the IIRC’s International Framework – as well as an extensive range of other frameworks and standards.

The Sustainability and Climate Disclosure Guidance is open for public comment until 28 February 2022.

NEW CEO FOR ATLANTIS SEZ

The Atlantis Special Economic Zone (SEZ) welcomes Dr Pierre Voges as its new CEO. Dr Voges’ past experience includes heading up the Western Cape Strategic Economic Development Infrastructure The Atlantis Special Company, a catalytic infrastructure entity that is being established Economic Zone. by the Western Cape Government. He was former CEO of the Mandela Bay Development Agency responsible for urban renewal through infrastructure projects in Port Elizabeth. From 1994 to 1996, Dr Voges was an advisor in the office of former South African President Nelson Mandela, where he dealt specifically with public finance and the utilisation thereof in urban renewal development projects.

Dr Voges says: “I believe any SEZ is all about putting government policy into practice. The Atlantis SEZ is a green tech SEZ. I am determined to ensure that an already expanding manufacturing hub in Atlantis is taken to a much higher-level green tech manufacturing hub to provide one of the key pillars in the government’s renewable energy drive.” Watch this space!

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SPECIAL REPORT

2022 FORESIGHT:

The Future of Novel Sciences and Technologies that Support a Sustainable Global Economy Great innovations occur when technologies collide. Collisions happen when different, disparate technologies suddenly find themselves connected through an enabling connector. Connections manifest due to the forceful function of a dominant question.

Connected computation is that enabler, and sustainability is that question.

BY LUX RESEARCH

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SPECIAL REPORT

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ore and more devices are being computationally connected to create ever-more novel combinations of data, and more and more issues like recycling, healthcare, climate change, and empowered consumerism are being connected via the thread of sustainability. Lux Research asked its analysts and thought leaders what they think of emerging new technologies, the status of existing technologies and potential scenarios that might unfold in 2022.

THE SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION MODEL

CLIMATE TECH Enabling the elimination of greenhouse gas emissions Your innovation strategy needs to leverage technologies and sectors powering the energy transition as well as figure out how to directly reduce emissions and evolve your business models to reach your enterprise’s sustainability goals.

Focus Areas • Decarbonising industrial processes • Renewable grid integration • Energy storage • Carbon capture, utilisation and storage • Hydrogen economy • Electric vehicle charging • Synthetic fuels CIRCULAR TECH Enabling the elimination and remediation of waste Your innovation strategy needs to have a compelling vision, clear business models and proof that the circular economy practices deliver on their promise of product performance and resource efficiency to build circular supply chains.

Focus Areas • Plastic waste • Food and agricultural waste • Building and construction waste • Textile circularity • Circular design tools • Tracking and traceability • Synthetic biology • Chemical recycling

CONSUMER TECH Enabling nutrition and wellness for the world’s population Your innovation strategy needs to strike the right balance between sustainability outcomes (health, safety and transparency) while delivering on performance, cost and ease of access to capitalise on the rapidly evolving needs of the future consumer.

Focus Areas • Alternative food production systems • Alternative proteins and food ingredients • Nutraceuticals • Microbiome • Digital biomarkers and therapeutics • Digital sales platforms • Personalisation

Stock prices of oil and gas and chemical and materials companies do not bounce back to pre-Covid levels without strong ESG programmes.

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SPECIAL REPORT

2021 IN PASSING: HINDSIGHTS AND SIGNPOSTS

CLIMATE TECH Carbon capture becoming a business Building on Tesla and others selling carbon credits for revenue, Exxon takes the next step in building a first-of-its-kind business around carbon itself, which will further stimulate capture and utilisation technology development.

Signposts • COP26 accelerates and converges government policymaking around the globe.

• The UK announces a 2023 experiment to swap H2 into its NG infrastructure, setting the pace.

• Initial windfarms reach their end of life, prompting renewed focus on large-scale recycling technologies.

CIRCULAR TECH Chemicals embrace digital service providers in a bigger way In a sign of decreased dependency on volumetric sales models, companies like BASF embrace just-in-time sales through partnerships with data and analytics companies, signalling a fundamental shift in overall business strategies.

Signposts • COP26 drives further carbon policy formation and stimulates technology development.

• Stock prices of oil and gas and chemical and materials companies do not bounce back to pre-Covid levels without strong ESG programmes.

• Companies add policy, NGO understanding to their techscouting activities.

• The US and EU follow Singapore enacting bioengineering policy, including food safety and provenance.

• Companies spend more on innovation scouting in response to the increasingly complex environment.

CLIMATE TECH: TOP TECHNOLOGIES FOR 2022

COMPRESSED AIR ENERGY STORAGE Signals and signposts Market need for cheaper, multiplexed, distributed energy management from surging renewable input energy sources.

Implications Harbinger of dynamic grid management, renewables and new business models; on-demand energy management is a proxy for the goods and services delivered.

HIGH-TEMPERATURE HEAT PUMPS Signals and signposts Linking disparate industrial processes together to harness waste heat; heat distribution and management become a monetised service.

Implications Sustainability drives renewal of mechanical systems with new, connected balance-of-system configurations to drive sustainability.

CONSUMER TECH Cellular meat receives market approval Intense consumer interest drives rapid market development of alternative proteins. Singapore leads with first market approval of a cell-cultured product. Sustainability concerns by empowered consumers create new perceptions, rapid policy shifts and novel product opportunities.

Signposts • Global replication of Land O’ Lakes’ TruTerra consortium model of analytics-to-the-acre, solving for yield, profitability and consumer preference.

FLOW BATTERIES Signals and signposts Intensive academic research; breakthroughs in organic materials; claims of $25/kWh makes flow batteries competitive to lithium.

Implications Claims of superior cost to lithium and balance of system plus a smaller form factor lead to increased flexible deployments.

CIRCULAR TECH: TOP TECHNOLOGIES FOR 2022

ADVANCED PYROLYSIS Signals and signposts Increasing focus on improved economics, recovery and restreaming of core materials; watch this and the chemical looping spaces for advances and the addition of electrolysis to the balance of system.

Implications Part of waste ecosystem platform development driven by circular economy strategy and will drive robotic sorting, balance-of-system efficiencies, and new downstream markets for recovered materials.

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SPECIAL REPORT PRODUCTION ELECTROCHEMISTRY Signals and signposts Green hydrogen interest drives electrolysis systems development, creating viable scaled pathways for new electrochemical reactions.

Implications Accelerated research and discovery targeting replacement of all combustion chemical reactions.

CONSUMER TECH: TOP TECHNOLOGIES FOR 2022

CELL-BASED MEAT Signals and signposts Singapore’s approval of the world’s first laboratory-grown meat source paves the way for global competition.

Implications New methods for bioreactor technology and economic growth media required to cost-effectively scale; new policies needed for food safety.

NOVEL SEED TREATMENT Signals and signposts Continued exponential growth in intellectual property (IP) around non-genetic seed treatments and CRISPR*; partnerships and acquisitions increase as Corteva, BASF and Syngenta invest. * CRISPR is a tool for editing genomes, (it allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function).

Implications Drive for yield with fewer chemicals propels controlled environment farming using purpose-built seeds per each growth condition.

CELL-FREE BIOSYNTHESIS Signals and signposts Increased range of created molecules; design on demand.

Implications Biomanufacturing enables plug and play of enzyme cascades into traditional chemistries to create new synthetic pathways.

READ REPORT

The above article is an excerpt from the Lux Research Foresight 2022 Report [November 2021].

THOUGHT [ECO]NOMY

CARBON CAPTURE UTILIZATION AND STORAGE | Towards Net-Zero | Kearney Energy Transition Institute [2021]

Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage or CCUS refers to a set of CO2 capture, transport, utilisation, and storage technologies combined to abate CO2 emissions. CO2 is generally captured from large and stationary emissions sources (power or industrial plants), transported in a gaseous or liquefied state by pipelines or ships and stored in geological greeneconomy/report recycle formations or reused to promote carbon circularity.

The CO2 capture mainly consists of separating CO2 molecules from flue gases and relies on three technologies: – Absorption and adsorption of the CO2 by a liquid carrier (solvent) or solid carrier (sorbent) and regeneration of the liquid or solid by increasing the temperature or reducing the pressure.

– Membranes (metallic, polymeric, or ceramic material) for gas separation, not suitable for post-combustion, most suitable for high pressure and high CO2 concentration.

– Cryogenic method using low temperature to liquefy and separate CO2 from other gases.

Adsorption and absorption capture is the dominant technology, but membranes and cryogenic capture have great potential. Four capture technologies occur at different steps of the combustion value chain: Post-combustion. CO2 is separated from flue gas after combustion with air and can be retrofitted to power and heavy industrial plants with relatively high costs and energy penalty. This technology is the most broadly used outside oil and gas.

Oxy-combustion. Fuel is combusted in pure oxygen instead of air, producing a concentrated CO2 stream in the flue gas, which is almost ready to be transported. Oxy-combustion could be retrofitted to existing plants, though with significant redesign.

Pre-combustion. A hydrocarbon fuel source – coal, gas, or biomass – is gasified into shifted syngas (H2 / CO2 mix), from which the CO2 is separated.

The H2 is then used to fuel the power plant or to produce chemicals or synthetic fuels. In power generation, the pre-combustion process is more energy efficient than post-combustion but requires new and expensive plant design, such as an integrated gasification combined cycle.

Natural gas sweetening. In this mature process, CO2 is separated from raw natural gas at a gas processing plant.

Three options exist to store or reuse captured carbon: – Passive storage includes underground geological storage in deep saline aquifers or depleted petroleum reservoirs. Underground CO2 injection is achieved by pumping compressed CO2 in fluid phase (super critical) down to the formation through a well, where it remains trapped.

Monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA) is needed before the start (to set the baseline), during the injection, and after closure to ensure the CO2 remains in place.

– Beneficially reused involves injecting CO2 into a petroleum reservoir for enhanced oil recovery (CO2 -EOR) or into deep un-mineable coal seams to recover methane (CO2 -ECBM). Many operational CCUS projects in conjunction with CO2 -EOR capture CO2 from natural gas processing rather than power production.

– Industry use is used to a lesser extent for greenhouses carbon concentration, mineral carbonation, chemicals, liquid fuel or food processing.

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Value chain and key technology

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Global overview of CCUS development

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Outlook of carbon capture development per sector

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Outlook of carbon ultilisation and storage

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Carbon capture utilisation and storage costs

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OFFSHORE

SEISMIC SURVEY

South Africa’s top science academy calls for rethink on outdated sea-blasting technology Eleven top scientists representing the Academy of Sciences of South Africa have weighed in strongly against the Shell seismic survey — and any further marine seismic surveys off the South African coastline — until there are more rigorous expert studies in local waters.

BY TONY CARNIE

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EIA report based on the latest science. EMPs should never be considered a valid and legitimate substitute for comprehensive EIA reports,” according to the multidisciplinary group of 11 experts — Aliza le Roux, Jerome Amir Singh, Isabelle Ansorge, Marizvikuru Manjoro, Tommy Bornman, Simon Elwen, Louise Gammage, Sershen Naidoo, Anusha Rajkaran, Patrick Vrancken and Pradeep Kumar.

Article courtesy Daily Maverick under Creative Commons license

he academy’s Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) has urged the government to swiftly reform marine protection legislation by revoking the exclusive power of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to issue oil and gas exploration permits.

The advisory group’s sub-committee on marine ecology and risk mitigation said the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE), the SA National Biodiversity Institute and conservation agencies should also have a strong voice on whether to authorise surveys such as the controversial recent Shell/Impact Oil survey along the Wild Coast.

“Decisions that concern the marine environment cannot and should not be made by a single government department, as the complex and integrated nature of marine systems demand more integrative decisionmaking processes amongst all stakeholders.”

The full advisory statement and list of authors can be accessed here.

Significantly, the scientists have endorsed the position taken by several environmental groups that Shell should not be permitted to embark on the survey until there is a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that examines the specific impacts for South African waters.

The more rudimentary Environmental Management Programme (EMP) relied upon by Shell/Impact was also insufficient to properly assess harmful impacts.

“No seismic survey should be conducted in South African waters without a preceding comprehensive

OFFSHORE

No seismic survey should be conducted in South African waters without a preceding comprehensive EIA report based on the latest science.

They noted that populations of the extremely rare coelacanth “dinosaur fish” could still foreseeably inhabit this section of the South African coast, while a survey from last year confirmed that there is a high number of endemic and endangered fish species across the continental shelf, such as deep-water lace corals, wreckfish and critically endangered and endemic seabreams.

The survey technology proposed by Shell was also out of date and there was a real risk of irreparable harm to the marine environment. Due to a relative dearth of evidence on the impact of seismic surveys on marine life in South African waters, SAGE takes the following position: “There is a reasonable apprehension of real harm to marine life if (Shell/Impact) are permitted to resume their seismic survey”.

They note that blasting compressed air into the sea constitutes outdated technology that has not changed significantly after nearly 50 years of use. Newer technologies with less environmental impact have since been developed, including Wide Azimuth data acquisition and Marine Vibroseis.

“Several companies have operated under similar permits off South Africa’s coastline, with offshore oil and gas exploration continuing since the 1960s. These companies are operating under the assumption that their operations will have minimal impact on marine biota. These assumptions are based on, amongst others: • A lack of sufficient, detailed scientific information on South Africa’s offshore marine resources (both biotic and abiotic).

• A flawed legal distinction between substance-based pollutants and energy-based pollutants, such as sound.

“Shell’s planned seismic operations, like past and ongoing explorations along our coastline, use seismic airguns to probe for the presence of shale gas deposits. These airgun arrays are considered ‘disruptive technologies’, which can cause acoustic disturbance over 3 000km from the survey vessels (Nieukerk et al. 2004).

“This stream of energy is significant in an aquatic environment where sound waves travel much further than in air, and where most wildlife relies on acoustic communication throughout their life cycles. It, therefore, constitutes noise pollution and a threat to marine life behavioural patterns and/or survival.”

They note that seismic surveys have been implicated in altering the behaviour of whales and dolphins attempting to escape airgun surveys. Several other disruptions to marine biota had also been documented, including altering penguin behaviour off Gqeberha (Pichegru et al. 2017) and decimating larval krill populations (McCauley et al. 2017), which are key prey for species such as humpback whales.

In controlled experiments, negative impacts on zooplankton have been documented more than 1km from the sound source; a significantly wider reach than Shell’s predicted 10m impact range.

“Despite such potentially harmful consequences, no formal research on the effects of seismic surveys have been conducted in South Africa and the exact effects on the marine environment – and by default, the people who depend on marine resources – remain largely unknown.”

Consultants and other people with land-based mining and generalised environmental impact experience should also never be considered proxies for legitimate marine experts. Instead, EIA reports for marine environments (or for that matter, even EMPs for marine environments) should be drafted by experts with professional marine science and/or marine environmental training and experience. “There is a real threat that marine life would be irreparably harmed if (Shell/ImpactOil) are permitted to resume their seismic survey.”

17

OFFSHORE

Accordingly, when the Makhanda High Court considered Part B of the application, the court should grant the relief sought by the civil society applicants: the respondents should be interdicted from proceeding with the seismic survey until and unless they obtain an environmental authorisation under the National Environmental Management Act. “Only a holistic approach to marine oversight will ensure the sustainable use of our natural resources while also encouraging and supporting tourism, local livelihoods, environmental health and the maintenance of ecosystem services.”

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The group said decisions that concern the marine environment cannot and should not be made by a single government department, as the complex and integrated nature of marine systems demand more integrative decision-making processes among all stakeholders. Interdepartmental cooperation and considerations need to be mandated, bringing together the DFFE, DMRE, their affiliated entities, for example, the South African National Biodiversity Institute and conservation agencies.

The process of EIAs should be revised to ensure a more proactive, systems-based approach, including direct and indirect

OFFSHORE

stakeholders. Such an approach to EIAs was necessary given the unique, integrated nature of the marine ecosystem, which included a multitude of temporal and spatial scales.

The experts have further recommended that: • No seismic survey should be conducted in South African waters without a preceding comprehensive EIA report based on the latest science. EMPs should never be considered a valid and legitimate substitute for comprehensive EIA reports.

• The government should convene a task team to evaluate and improve current domestic legislation. More specifically, the authority of the DMRE to exclusively issue exploration permits without the concurrence of the DFFE should be revoked.

SAGE is housed within the Academy of Sciences of South Africa, the official national science academy. It aims to provide rapid, independent, multidisciplinary science advice to stakeholders on emergency issues that require strategic attention and to create awareness in relation to emergencies. In the context of SAGE activities, an “emergency” denotes a serious, unexpected and potentially dangerous situation that has either already caused loss of life, health detriments, property damage or environmental damage, or has a high probability of escalating to cause immediate danger to life, health, property or the environment.

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WASTE

DON’T LET THE FUTURE go to

WASTE Improper waste management has serious health and environmental consequences. If it persists, it will undermine Africa’s efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

BY DCLM, OPERATED BY VEOLIA

A

ccording to the Africa Waste Management Outlook, that is published by the United Nations Environment Programme: “Waste generation in Africa, like in other developing regions in the world, is driven by population growth, rapid urbanisation, a growing middle class, changing consumption habits and production patterns, as well as global waste trade and trafficking.”

To create sustainable environments, industry, consumers and society as a whole have to rethink their consumption patterns, material use, wastage factors and consider the depletion of resources. With this being top of mind, current practice must change from a linear approach towards a circular one as material consumers and waste generators commence the process of preservation through re-use, recycling, repurposing and reducing waste.

In undertaking any of these processes, technology can be hugely beneficial in ensuring that multiple Sustainable

DCLM fleet.

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Development Goals (SDGs) are met over time. With the use of technologies, the acceleration toward a circular economy can easily be achieved and create additional opportunities for job creation, innovation and bring renewed life into sectors like manufacturing.

Global technology has already and will continue to change the way that we think about waste management, and in the future, we should be able to achieve zero waste, an improvement in services to citizens as well as reduce municipal operational costs thanks to smarter, more efficient waste management systems with the advancement of technology.

A key focus of the SDGs is “Leave No One Behind”, South Africa cannot be a country left in this initiative to improve the lives of everyone on the African continent. There must be a path established to achieve them and technology is the one driver that could help create sustainable livelihoods. Technologies such as 4IR, Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, advanced

WASTE

Kwadukuza Landfill site, Durban.

At Veolia, smart services are revolutionising city management, making urban services smarter and more efficient. materials, cloud technologies, augmented reality, big data and 3D technologies are prime examples of how technology will improve waste management and be well incorporated into the circular economy approach in Africa.

The way we manage these technology choices will fuel greater gains for improved waste management. We will need to start thinking about new waste treatment technologies and facilities, as well as plan for capital investment in these projects. Current landfills in Africa will not be able to accommodate the influx of waste due to growing populations and rapid urbanisation.

The movement away from landfill situations to smarter solutions and technologies will not be quick or too easily attainable. Proper assessments must be done, with each individual situation analysed, to develop step-by-step bespoke solutions for each unique problem.

These assessments will require correct data collection to make informed decisions. Unfortunately, according to the Africa Waste Management Outlook, the lack of accurate and up-to-date waste data for Africa hampers efforts to present the full picture of waste management on the continent. This will prevent proper assessments from being carried out and block the way forward for smarter waste management in Africa.

An integrated sustainable waste management approach is highlighted in the Africa Waste Management Outlook, which

EVALED® Evaporators.

Nick Mannie, Managing Director for DCLM, Operated by Veolia

recognises that African waste management is complex. It states that “three elements must be considered individually and collectively, in an integrated manner; infrastructure, all stakeholders involved as well as strategic aspects such as political, health, institutional, social, economic, financial, environmental and technical facets (UNEP 2015).”

So, what does or what should the future in waste management look like?

In the future, smart cities will integrate technology, connectivity and communication to share data that can assist with several processes such as optimising the routes that garbage disposal vehicles follow for waste collection and removal, together with automating operations through sensors on garbage bins signalling that collection is needed when the bins are full. This scenario is not too far out of reach and is achievable as can already be seen at a global level, albeit still on a small scale.

“The data that this automated process generates can transmit information in real time to a control centre to guide the driver on routes to take, collection points, bins to uplift, traffic situations, estimated time for collection, and provide analytical information on this process to determine the cost of waste collection per kilometre. After the bins are collected, then information on the waste types can be analysed to determine, for example, which bins need to go to recycling centres or to disposal sites. The information can be used to inform clients and provide clients with invoicing information simultaneously via the cloud. This is already happening on small scales in other parts of the world and it’s time for African countries to follow suit,” explains Nick Mannie, Managing Director of Dolphin Coast Landfill Management (DCLM), operated by Veolia.

At Veolia, smart services are revolutionising city management, making urban services smarter and more efficient. To support local authorities and companies in their digital transformation, Veolia designs smart waste collection solutions – for example, by introducing electronic sensors and gradually automating materials and processes. With cities facing major challenges in water scarcity, ageing infrastructure and increasing energy costs, as well as trying to maintain satisfactory levels of public services while achieving sustainable development, Veolia aims to address these challenges through the provision of innovative solutions.

DCLM, as part of the Veolia group, proudly operates in a more sustainable and resource-efficient manner to help build the circular economy.

Our daily actions and activities are aligned with the Veolia Group’s nine commitments to sustainable development, and contributes very concretely to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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MINING

INTEGRATED GEOSCIENCE Targeting Sustainable Development in South Africa

South Africa is a country that relies heavily on its natural resources for development.

However, long-term exploration, extraction and utilisation of some of the natural resources have left South Africa with several negative implications that need to be addressed.

BY THE COUNCIL FOR GEOSCIENCE ANTHROPOGENIC EFFECTS

The minerals and mining sectors contribute significantly to the country’s economy. Furthermore, these industries also contribute significantly towards the nation’s employment and associated socioeconomic development.

In general, places that have experienced longstanding mining and minerals processing display evidence of surface and air pollution that is detrimental to human and environmental health. The extended use of fossil fuels for energy generation has resulted in South Africa becoming the largest CO2 emitter on the African continent. In addition, the extraction of these fossils fuels has resulted in the development of mine waters that pollute natural water, flora and faunal systems on the surface. Moreover, the processing of raw mining products contributes toward the deterioration of the air quality.

South Africa,s Climate Action Tracker.

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SHIFT TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY

South Africa has affirmed its stance towards attaining sustainable development. It has stipulated these goals in the country’s National Development Plan (2030). Herein, South Africa aims to reduce negative impacts on the environment and shift to a lowcarbon economy. It aims to do this through the implementation of novel technologies. This includes a wide range of renewable and alternative sources of energy, and the development of novel circular-economy technologies to reduce the waste associated to mining products.

Enabling such a shift from deeply entrenched practises requires a knowledge-driven approach. Key to this approach is understanding the fundamental geosciences of the Earth and the specific zone where anthropogenic interaction links with the environment. Understanding the geology of this zone will

MINING

A geoscience map for the Orange River Pegmatite Belt.

assist in understanding how fluids and other processes interact with the natural environment. Currently, an extensive geological understanding of South Africa is limited.

INTEGRATED GEOSCIENCE MAPPING

The Council for Geoscience is a South African scientific council, mandated to undertake high-resolution integrated geoscience mapping of South Africa, and to use this information to enable the crucial developmental imperatives of the country. To attain this target, the Council for Geoscience has embarked on a programme to generate and publish 1:50 000 integrated geoscience maps across the country. Key thematic areas include understanding how different rock types control various natural processes and how different types of structures enable the movement of natural fluids on the Earth’s surface and subsurface.

Since the inception of this programme in 2018, the Council for Geoscience has increased South Africa’s 1:50 000 geological coverage from under 4% to 10%. Importantly, target regions

selected for geoscience mapping are closely aligned with South Africa’s developmental imperatives.

IMPLICATIONS FOR ENERGY

South Africa has targeted the reduction of CO2 by 50% in the next 10 years. Due to the heavy reliance on fossil fuels, this shift will not happen overnight. Instead, this will require a just transition.

This implies that the country’s climate change mitigation scenario planning must be met and not have a negative impact on South Africa’s energy security. CO2 emissions must be directly combatted.

Added to that, new energy technologies, such as renewables, need a wide range of critical minerals. To extract these efficiently and sustainably will require an in-depth understanding of the controlling and underlying geology.

CARBON CAPTURE, UTILISATION AND STORAGE

Detailed integrated geoscience mapping around South Africa’s coalfields has highlighted reservoirs that may support the safe and permanent storage of anthropogenic CO2. This implies that CO2 may be captured at their source, transported and permanently stored in these geological reservoirs, therefore mitigating the release of the CO2 to the atmosphere. Moreover, the captured CO2 may be used for several applications. This includes various petrochemical processes, the development of polymers and the remediation of harmful mine waters.

FUTURE MINING

Overview of the circular economy (www.hub.beesmart.city)

Integrated geoscience mapping also assists in defining and characterising new critical mineral systems. This includes various battery storage minerals, such as lithium, copper, cobalt vanadium; and various electro voltaic minerals, for example, the platinum group of metals and rare earth elements. Importantly, the geological characteristics of these mineral systems are being considered closely with the environment they are located. This is toward establishing sustainable and coexistence mechanisms that can be employed in future mining practises.

South Africa will now aim to effect change based on the geoscience knowledge developed to date. Additional industries must also be considered, including mineral beneficiation and mechanisms to enable coexistence and long-term planning for lands where mining practices are completed. Further highresolution geoscience information and knowledge will also form a key component to support the requisite policy development.

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MINING

Specialists Must Join Hands to Meet

NEW TAILINGS STANDARD With the release of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management in 2020, the foundation of this field has shifted and the stakes have been raised. The standard sets a new bar for corporate responsibility in the mining sector.

BY JAMES MORRIS, FRANCISKA LAKE, JACKY BURKE, SRK CONSULTING

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mong its demands is that mines engage with multiple spheres of influence when designing and managing tailings storage facilities (TSFs). Once the exclusive domain of geotechnical, civil and water engineers, TSF management now involves a complex array of requirements and stakeholders – which the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) seeks to address.

As the mining sector comes to terms with the implications of this standard, it is also clear that a tailings storage facility is no longer considered a temporary operational structure; rather, it must endure safely for centuries.

Over the years, TSF management has included the sciences of water, soil, bedrock and geohydrology, as well as the geological and seismic setting. It also deals with environmental issues such as stormwater and air quality, as well as long-term sustainability and governance. The field also accommodates the local and regional setting, including communities and regulators. Financial institutions and investors have recently weighed in on questions of safety and risk.

The GISTM embraces all these spheres, so achieving the requirements of this standard will require a comprehensive range of disciplines and skillsets. The standard itself recognises this, especially in its discussion of the integrated knowledge base – one of six topic areas which is outlined alongside affected

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communities: design, construction, operation and monitoring of the tailings facility; management and governance; emergency response and long-term recovery; as well as public disclosure and access to information.

The TSF design and management remain key technical elements in the GISTM, which highlights the range of expertise, knowledge and data required for site characterisation.

Generating this data requires geomorphologists, geologists, geochemists, hydrologists and hydrogeologists – not to mention civil and geotechnical engineers and experts in seismicity. With the detailed input from each of these disciplines, the necessary breach analysis required by the GISTM can be developed. This would consider failure modes, site conditions and slurry properties – in some cases predicting the consequences of failure.

The GISTM is essentially a high-level statement of intent – the “why” and “what” which precedes the more detailed guidelines and regulations. TSF owners’ in-house standards and procedures, as well as the recently released guidance and conformance protocols from the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) will define the “how”.

Having the necessary knowledge and data to safely build and manage a TSF is one challenge; using that knowledge effectively is another. The GISTM therefore points out that mines must use

MINING

Adriaan Meintjies

Progressive preparation and lining of a high density polyethylene lined (HDPE) compartment.

all elements of their knowledge base – “social, environmental, local economic and technical” – to inform their timeous decisionmaking through the lifecycle of the TSF. There is also the role of emergency response and humanitarian aid to consider. This often demands a level of information sharing and operational integration that many mines simply have not yet achieved.

WATCH VIDEO

James Morris, Principal Civil Engineer.

Franciska Lake, Principal Environmental Scientist.

In many cases, the information that mines need is already available on site, although new systems of monitoring and analysis may also be required; the technology to do this is readily accessible, as is the expertise.

Often, however, a paradigm shift is needed to overcome internal “silo” thinking.

SRK Consulting has been involved in TSF design and management for decades and has also been a pioneer in supporting clients with innovative solutions to their environmental and social impacts. Its teams embrace diverse disciplines and skillsets and have evolved the kind of multi-disciplinary approach and experience demanded by the GISTM. SRK Consulting’s capability positions it well to help mining companies to align their TSF practice with the requirements of the GISTM. SRK’s experience covers a range of disciplines relevant to the new standard, from engineering and water management to ESG and disaster management.

Jacky Burke, Principal Environmental Consultant.

Adriaan Meintjes, Principal Geotechnical Engineer.

THE GLOBAL TAILINGS STANDARD

The global tailings standard assists mines to integrate all aspects of tailings dam engineering, including environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. The standard encourages greater involvement by communities and stakeholders, as well as the world’s major investor bodies. Adriaan Meintjes, SRK, shares his views regarding the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management and why it is crucial for mining companies and associations to adhere to it.

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JUST TRANSITION

At the

COALFACE

Getting buy-in from the people most at risk in South Africa’s just transition to low-carbon energy – the workers.

WORDS AND IMAGES BY ETHAN VAN DIEMEN

T

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Eskom and South Africa accelerate their decarbonisation agendas to move beyond coal.

Speaking to Daily Maverick, bread roll in hand as he walked alongside a colliery a few kilometres from the Duvha Power Station to his home, Dlamini expressed shock at the thought of coal jobs being a thing of the past. He indicated that the social dialogue about workers and communities seemed to be happening without workers and communities.

The Just Transition is about people.

Bongikosi Gina, an employee at Masekane Liquor Store, earns his living upstream of the coal value chain. But a few kilometres away from Eskom’s Duvha Power Station, he is already feeling the impact of a reduced workforce. There are fewer contractors working at the power station, he said, and they and other locals constitute the lion’s share of the liquor store’s customers.

Gina added that, if Eskom should shut the Duvha coal-fired power station or if the coal mines around the Masakhane area cease operations, his liquor store business would struggle and the people who depend on him would suffer the consequences.

Article courtesy Daily Maverick under Creative Commons license

hreatened by both the likely prospect of a dangerous climate crisis and energy transition-induced poverty and unemployment, these are some of the people who face the biggest risks as humanity pivots towards a post-fossil fuel epoch.

How can their participation in the transition be improved?

While Team SA was negotiating what was described as a “watershed” R131-billion multilateral climate financing deal in the air-conditioned halls of the conference centre at the COP26, some of those most affected by the transition were on Mpumalanga’s soot-covered ground, seemingly unaware that their livelihoods were being negotiated without their consent or input.

The Presidential Climate Commission Technical Report on the Just Transition explains that a “just transition” refers to “the management of a transition to a low-carbon society in a balanced and just manner, housed within a given socioeconomic context”.

An analysis by the World Resources Institute (WRI) found that even though South Africa has a strong foundation for a just transition, “social dialogue has mostly remained at the national level”. It goes on to say that “this may create downstream challenges because concerns at the national level will differ from those at the local level”.

This, and more, was borne out by the anecdotal encounters Daily Maverick had with various people in Mpumalanga who were relatively less informed about the science of the climate crisis, coal’s role therein and the planned energy transition.

Wandile Dlamini is a contract worker at the troublesome Duvha Power Station. He is among those first in line to lose their jobs as

JUST TRANSITION

It is about the workers and their families who are at risk of losing their livelihoods with the change in economic activities triggered by climate change.

In a recent webinar hosted by Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS), senior economist Gaylor Montmasson-Clair explained why participatory justice was at the core of the Just Transition process.

The just transition is about people, he explained, saying that “it is about people who are at risk, who are losing their jobs especially with the phasing out of value chains such as the coal value chain. It is about the workers and their families who are at risk of losing their livelihoods with the change in economic activities triggered by climate change.”

Montmasson-Clair stressed that it starts with workers and people on the shop floor who are at the core of this just transition.

David Fankomo, a full-time National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) shop steward at Komati Power Station and former employee at the power station in eMalahleni, spoke about his concerns. “We have a concern with the Just Transition. It’s a just transition which is not just because as workers, the level we are communicated with, it’s not proper, it’s not enough.

Even the workers, even the community around Komati, they are worried. They only got rumours that in 2022 Komati will be closed. So, it means, it needs to be a matter of improving in the communication side of it to say people must know what will happen there. Then the ‘Just Transition’ will be just.

“Is there any surety that our jobs will be safe? If so, how? You see, there must be a plan, but we don’t have such. That is our worry,” said Fankomo.

He explained that many of the workers that he represents feel as if the government is kowtowing to the international community at their expense.

“Why don’t they tell the world: ‘Let’s consult, consult’, ‘let’s make sure our people are happy’ because our understanding and our reasoning – it can be shallow, but it concerns us – but myself as a shop steward I am dealing with people on the ground who will be asking me a simple question: what will happen with my job?

Is my job safe?”

A few hours away, on a hot late November day, a 29-year-old coal miner – who asked not to be identified – stood outside a liquor store in the tiny coal mine-adjacent town of Ogies, Mpumalanga. He told Daily Maverick that “if the [coal] mines close, we will vanish. You won’t see anything. The businesses you see here are supported by people, those people who are working for the mines. It’s going to kill the business, everything.”

TIPS explain in their coal value chain report that “the value chain as a whole employed around 200 000 formal workers and was the main source of livelihoods in eMalahleni [Witbank], Steve Tshwete [Middelburg], Govan Mbeki [Secunda] and Msukaligwa [Ermelo]”.

Daily Maverick asked the 29-year-old miner what the impact of closing mines would have on the area. He said, “It’s going to be bad. Because I think 80% of the people around this area are mining-based so if they take it away … Ja, eish. My family will suffer. It’s not only my family, but people also depend on me because now I’m providing for maybe three or two families.”

Two Duvha Power Station workers say that any move to rapidly shut down coal-fired power plants would be disastrous for them and their families.

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Felix Dlangamandla

JUST TRANSITION

Find the TIPS webinar on page 12 in Green Economy Journal 48.

Two workers inside the Komati Power Station.

Wandile Dlamini, a contract worker at Duvha Power Station, was shocked that South Africa is planning to accelerate its transition away from coal.

Bongikosi Gina, an employee at Masekane Liquor Store, a few kilometres away from Eskom’s Duvha Power Station.

To foster the creation of a social compact and to reduce the communication gulf between those affected by the transition and those charged with charting its course, Valli Moosa, the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) deputy chairperson at the 26th annual National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) summit announced plans for wider consultations with the people most affected by South Africa’s transition.

“The PCC plans to meet directly with those affected like coal miners who have already lost jobs, workers in coal-fired power stations who plan to lose jobs through decommissioning as well as those who live in the surrounding communities and are dependent on that mining activity to support their livelihoods,” said Moosa.

Michael Nkosi, from the Local Economic Development Department at the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality, in the TIPS

webinar, expressed reservations as to whether the structures and platforms in place involve the most affected people. Nkosi questioned how these platforms are used and for what purpose.

Offering a critique of how government and business use these structures as a mere mechanism to “tick the boxes”, he explained that while “we might have the right platforms and legislation for participation purposes”, it is questionable whether these structures are used correctly and for the right purposes.

“We are using them for compliance purposes,” but “are we using the structures to draw inputs from the communities that will influence how we structure the end products, I have my doubts,” he said.

Nkosi concluded, noting that “we have some way to go” in terms of how effectively we are using the mechanisms in place to engage; how to address the fragmentation of information and

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JUST TRANSITION processes and the lack of coordination within government and ensuring affected communities and businesses have a role to play.

Hameda Deedat, executive director of National Labour and Economic Development Institute, in the same webinar, stressed the need to address the power dynamics as power plays an important role in terms of how people engage.

In relation to labour’s role in this process, the institute – often described as Cosatu’s research arm – and others are trying to ensure workers have the knowledge and “we are trying to facilitate a process where workers feel confident to articulate their concerns”.

Workers, she stressed, are the people who do not have access to clean air, water and the like. “There are no better people to tell what is happening and what the just transition means for them.”

Deedat concluded that the just transition process should Felix Dlangamandla

A community digs for coal outside the Komati Power Station.

THOUGHT [ECO]NOMY

Two women from Masakhane, just outside of eMalahleni, explain their dire situation and ask if there are no coal jobs, “What will our children do?”

not only be a bottom-up approach that recognises the most marginalised, but it should take a worker-centric approach so as to ensure labour is “the leading voice in the Just Transition”.

The Presidential Climate Commission Technical Report on the Just Transition explains that “South Africa’s transition to net-zero CO2 emissions will take place over the next three decades in line with its Integrated Resource Plan and the Nationally Determined Contributions, among others. These form part of the government’s commitment both to its citizens and as part of a global movement towards changing the source of energy generation for the country and reducing the impact of climate change on the planet.

“The timeframe to ensure that this transition is ‘just’, however, requires immediate decisions to ensure the mechanisms are in place in the near term to support the transition,” it reads.

Additional reporting by Mpumelelo Masina Mashifane 013News.

TOWARDS A JUST TRANSITION: A REVIEW OF LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL POLICY DEBATES | Muhammed Patel, TIPS Economist: Sustainable Growth | Presidential Climate Commission [September 2021]

READ REPORT

greeneconomy/report recycle

06

Definitions and visions of a just transition

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Situating itself within the literature, existing debates and international experience, this review considers the different approaches to understanding and defining a just transition for South Africa. The review also considers the range of policy tools available to facilitate a just transition, which will be most effective when applied in combination, and with appropriate governance systems and funding.

The review ultimately recommends that the just transition vision adopted for South Africa is one that builds on existing (and extensive) consultation processes, particularly those established by the National Planning Commission and for the Climate Change Bill, but with a greater emphasis on social justice and a clearly defined endpoint: net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

As South Africa continues its journey towards a just and equitable transition, the Presidential Climate Commission has a crucial role to play in reconciling the views expressed by various stakeholders on what it will take to achieve a just transition and providing recommendations to the government that will effect evidence-based policy change.

This review has been commissioned by South Africa’s Presidential Climate Commission as an input to the process of planning for a just transition. Specifically, this review forms part of a series of papers that will provide an evidence-based foundation for a new framework for a just transition.

The framework will also build on existing just transition debates in the country and a new series of thematic and social-partner consultations that will gather a diverse range of views on what it means to achieve a just transition.

Understanding the dimensions of justice in a just transition

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Areas of emerging debate in the South African landscape

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Questions to guide the development of the framework

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Conclusion of the report

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ENERGY

LOCALISATION: A KEY ECONOMIC DRIVER FOR THE WIND INDUSTRY

With the announcement of Bid Window Five under the REIPPPP, which includes 1 600MW from onshore wind energy and Bid Window Six expected to be announced Q1 2022, the wind power sector is gearing up to deliver adequate energy to the country and help shift the economy onto a positive trajectory.

BY NORDEX ENERGY SOUTH AFRICA

O

riginal equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as Nordex Energy South Africa, will play a key role in stimulating local jobs and skills. The company sees the latest Bid Window (BW5), as an important link in driving the local value chain, which will directly stimulate the domestic job market.

“The wind power industry is expected to drive an estimated R40-billion of investment each year over the next decade, with a fairly large percentage coming from the economic benefits of stimulating the local value chain. This includes local manufacturing, transportation and other related industries,”

explains Compton Saunders, Managing Director of Nordex Energy South Africa.

He attests that the option of concrete constructed wind turbine towers has the added advantage of boasting close to 100% local content, including raw material such as concrete and rebar steel, aggregates and labour, in addition to offering the option of manufacturing at site. “Currently Nordex is the only supplier of local concrete towers, which are manufactured by the local industry. We create local jobs and skills directly at site, as the manufacturing facilities can be set up close to the project facility

Wind tower manufacturing facility in Prieska, Northern Cape, that manufactures concrete wind towers for the Garob Wind Farm and Copperton Wind Farm.

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ENERGY SAWEA

Garob Wind Farm in the Northern Cape.

during construction. This stimulates and drives local employment in rural areas. Our industrial strategy is aligned with the Just Energy Transition Policy and one of many primary benefits of the South African government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).”

If smooth procurement of new wind energy production continues, in line with the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), this sector is an excellent vehicle for direct infrastructure investment and a positive multiplier of economic effects, including specialised components manufacturing, such as wind turbine towers, construction industry, engineering and logistics.

Sector experts point out that although it is still to be confirmed whether the country is well-positioned to be competitive at a global scale in all components, the first step is to ensure industry makes the most of local opportunity and builds capacity to supply the local market. Furthermore, it has been noted that certain parts of the supply chain may emerge to be more strategically placed to cultivate capacity in South Africa than others to be able to be competitive.

The BW5 local content threshold has been retained at 40%, in line with previous rounds, however the scoring mechanism incentivising further commitments above 40% has been removed from the request for proposal regulation. For the first time, the REIPPPP has introduced the concept of designated local content, which requires developers to procure specific components locally such as steel. Should these components be unavailable, bidders can apply for an exemption that needs to be lodged with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition.

However, Nordex believes that this should not be applied to tower production, as both local and international companies have already invested in local manufacturing facilities that successfully produced these components for the previous REIPPPP rounds.

These OEMs have confirmed capacity to fully deliver the required towers for BW5, as well as future bid windows.

“Job creation and skills development will be a direct result of these consecutive bidding rounds, as they enable local manufacturing to be re-established or continue in the case of our concrete towers,” adds Saunders.

If smooth procurement of new wind energy production continues, in line with the Integrated Resource Plan, this sector is an excellent vehicle for direct infrastructure investment.

Spraying a wind blade.

31

ENERGY The most recent REIPPPP project to come on line, Garob Wind Farm, incorporates 46 wind turbine generators with AW125-3150 technology, as well as concrete towers, and is able to generate 573GWh each year, during its 20 years of operations. The 145MW Garob Wind Farm achieved commercial operation in December 2021 and is located in the Northern Cape, close to Copperton, in the Siyathemba Local Municipality.

Technician in position to guide the rotor into position on the nacelle.

The construction of Garob Wind Farm, which commenced in April 2019, installed concrete towers fully produced in the manufacturing facility set up in Prieska, a mere 40km from site.

The work was completed by local contractors, providing employment for over 500 people from the local community at the peak of the construction phase of the project.

Assembling a wind turbine.

THOUGHT [ECO]NOMY

GREEN ECONOMY POLICY REVIEW OF SOUTH AFRICA’S INDUSTRIAL POLICY FRAMEWORK | United Nations Environment Programme | Lead authors:

READ REPORT

Gaylor Montmasson-Clair and Gillian Chigumira from TIPS [2020] Local content requirements are an industrial policy tool used to spur demand for locally manufactured goods and develop the manufacturing capability in the country. They encompass tools or instruments, such as manufacturing enhancement programmes, supplier/enterprise greeneconomy/report recycle development initiatives, competitive supplier development programmes, local content targets and designations. Green procurement has yet to be rolled out in the country.

South Africa’s REIPPPP has so far been the main avenue used to localise green goods in the country. The programme’s objective is to spur industrial development through increasing local content requirements. Minimum local content requirements, as set by the dti, increased from 35% (for solar PV and CSP) and 25% (for all other technologies) of project value in the first procurement rounds to 50% in the latest rounds.

The design and governance of the programme attracted numerous manufacturers in the country. Companies, such as Gestamp Renewable Industries (turbines), DCD Group (turbines), SMA (inverters), Jinko Solar (solar panels), SolaireDirect (solar panels) and ARTsolar (solar panels) opened plants in South Africa to meet the growing demand for locally produced inputs.

As of December 2018, a total of R45.3-billion had been spent in local content by project developers, achieving 51% local content for the programme (DoE, NT, and DBSA, 2019). However, protracted delays in finalising procurement rounds since 2015 (ie beyond BW3 of the REIPPPP) and the lack of long-term certainty about the future of the programme has forced most facilities established at the onset of the REIPPPP to already close down.

The industrialisation envisioned as part of the programme has remained constrained owing to the limited generation capacity allocated per technology (to create sufficient aggregate demand for international companies to set up manufacturing sites in the country) and the small existing manufacturing base.

While the initial allocations represented a substantial volume, the overall capacity spreads across several technologies as well as numerous competing developers and suppliers, thus failing to create enough aggregate demand to encourage large investments in local manufacturing.

All raw (unprocessed) steel and aluminium, regardless of origin, is deemed 100% local in the programme, pushing local content statistics without benefiting local industries. In South Africa, over and beyond local content requirements, products can be “designated” (in South African terms) by the dti for local procurement by public entities. At a generous estimate, designations applied to less than 20% of procurement by general government, and to 6% of total sales of intermediate products. The share for state-owned enterprises is likely larger. While the impact of local procurement can take time to materialise, notably for new and nascent industries, it is an effective avenue to promote local green industrial development in the long run.

29 32

Industrial finance

35

Skills development

44

Localisation requirements

50

Capacity building

54

Transition planning

ENERGY

COMING SOON: GREEN ENERGY DEPLOYMENT AND LOW-CARBON INDUSTRIALISATION SAWEA predicts that 2022 will be defined by the accelerated uptake of green power procurement and South Africa’s intensifying commitment to the climate agenda, alongside several shifts in the energy space due to changes in technological deployment.

“W

e cannot separate wind power and the climate dialogue. We view our sector as a key implementer for the country to decarbonise its power sector and increase its energy availability simultaneously,” says Mercia Grimbeek, Chair of the South African Windy Energy Association (SAWEA).

The Association pronounces that renewable energy production needs to be scaled up significantly to meet climate change objectives agreed to in the Paris Agreement by many countries including South Africa. At present, emission trends are not on track to meet these goals. In South Africa this will require a profound transformation of the energy generation system, as government plans still fall far short of emission reduction needs.

Renewable energy and energy efficiency provide the optimal pathway to deliver most of the emission cuts needed at the necessary speed. Together they can provide a significant percentage of the energy-related CO2 emission reductions that are required, using technologies that are safe, reliable, affordable and widely available.

Cookhouse Wind Farm in the Eastern Cape.

Grimbeek envisions a decarbonised power sector, dominated by renewable sources, being at the core of the transition to a sustainable energy future. Although the power sector has made significant progress in recent years, the speed of progress must be accelerated. Industry, transport and the building sector, to name a few, will need to use more renewable energy. The energy transition makes economic sense and stimulates economic activity in addition to the growth that could be expected under a business-as-usual approach. With holistic policies, the transition can greatly boost overall employment in the energy sector.

“There is a definite trend for the world to shift to cleaner sources of energy generation and climate change is moving to the forefront of framing long-term business strategy and plans. The finance world is becoming increasingly unsupportive of funding new coal generation projects. Societal pressure is increasing toward more sustainable sources of energy generation in the face of the real effects of climate change,” explains Grimbeek.

Mercia Grimbeek, SAWEA Chair

The Association has noted that both industry and manufacturers are under increasing pressures to reduce their carbon emissions and carbon footprint. All of these pressures necessitate governments and regulators to draft regulations to increase the deployment of renewable energy. This in itself is a hugely positive impetus for the South African market. With the current status of the energy market in South Africa, these trends not only support the execution of the IRP 2019 but definitely encourage a more considerable wind energy generation in excess of that.

South Africa can address fundamental challenges of energy access, energy security and climate change through the deployment of renewable energy. We can harness our abundant potential of increasingly cost-competitive renewable energy to service the growing demand for electricity and avoid a potential fossil-fuel lock-in.

Something else to look out for if we follow international trends, is an increase in the types of technologies being positioned to maximise the deployment of renewables. Renewable technologies also present ample potential for the creation of new industries, job creation and localisation across the value chain. This presents a unique opportunity for the South African industry to expand into new avenues of production driven by new technologies, such as storage being introduced. Furthermore, it provides opportunities to increase the local manufacturing of various components over time. With consistent procurement facilitated by supporting regulations the opportunities to increase local manufacturing is hugely positive.

The renewable energy sector uses various sources of data to support sector growth and in certain instances to address sector challenges. By way of example, the Renewable Energy Development Zones (REDZ) provide areas of expedited development with shorter timeframes and hence a faster roll out of renewables. Similarly, the sector monitors the data released by the system operator to ensure that development is concentrated in areas where capacity is available. In addition, where data reveals grid constraints, it provides the opportunity for the sector to engage the system operator to find efficient solutions to transmission hurdles. Like any other business the renewables sector is constantly assessing commercial data to ensure that the cost competitiveness of the sector remains.

It is clear that decarbonising the energy sector is more than just fossil fuel replacement. It is a means of job creation through direct construction and subsequent operations and the associated industrialisation. South Africa is on the road to fully embracing the potential of its natural resources.

“We are a country that has the chance to accelerate the deployment of renewable technology and become a world leader in clean energy production. So, I expect that the sector will play a role in building institutional capacity to develop and implement national policies for increased access to electricity, while pursuing the low-carbon development of the electricity sector,” concludes Grimbeek.

33

ENERGY

SOLAR PV vs

SOLAR THERMAL vs HEAT PUMPS

Which is best for water heating?

South Africans have been pummelled by large electricity price increases since electricity shortages and load shedding started in 2008. Electricity prices have increased by more than 500% in real money terms over this period. In other words, five times more than inflation.

BY DR SEAN MOOLMAN*

34

ENERGY

T

his steep and sustained rise in electricity prices, combined with rising concerns about the health and environmental impacts of South Africa’s “dirty” coal-fired electricity, has prompted a country-wide search for ways to reduce our dependence on the grid.

Water heating is the single biggest energy consumer in South African households at 40% of total household energy use ref. That makes it an obvious target for reducing the electricity bill. South Africa’s National Building Regulations prescribe minimum energy efficiency standards (through Regulation XA), which requires all new residential properties to derive at least 50% of the annual household water heating requirement from an energy source other than grid electricity.

THE WATER HEATING OPTIONS • Solar PV (photovoltaic) • Solar thermal (also known as solar geysers) • Heat pumps • Natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) • Biomass • PV thermal (PVT) – a mix of solar PV and solar thermal

Water heating options.

WHICH IS BEST?

As with most things in life, the answer depends on individual priorities and circumstances. Factors such as location and climate, size of household, budget, reliability of electricity supply and importance of environmental considerations all have an impact on the suitability of available water heating options. However, there are clear advantages to some possibilities over others. Let’s first look at cost.

When considering the cost of any system, it is important to factor in total lifetime cost. This includes the upfront cost of the system and installation (capital cost), as well as any ongoing expenses, such as electricity, and maintenance or repair outlays.

The lifetime of the system is also a mitigating aspect.

There is a methodology to account for all the above factors called levelised cost of energy (LCOE). It calculates the total cost per unit of energy (called a kWh or “kilowatt-hour”) for various energy options. The graph on the right shows the overall cost or LCOE for several water heating options in South Africa as at 2021 (see tab “levelised cost of energy” at ref).

The graph clarifies that solar PV and solar thermal water heating are by far the lowest cost options for heating water. The most expensive option is, as anticipated, electricity from Eskom or the municipality.

Water heating is the single biggest energy consumer in South African households at 40% of total household energy use.

Range of Eskom and municipal residential electricity tariffs 2021-22

Overall cost* for residential water heating (R/kWh).

35

ENERGY FACTOR

SOLAR PV

SOLAR THERMAL

HEAT PUMPS

Additional plumbing required?

No

Yes

Yes

Retrofit to standard electric geysers?

Yes

Some designs can be retrofitted

Requires modifications

Noise?

No noise

Some noise (pumped systems)

Yes

Works during power failures?

Yes

Yes, for some (thermosiphon and pumped with solar PV)

No

Frost issues?

No

Yes (requires more expensive indirect system)

Reduced performance

Winter performance

Good

Not as good

Not as good

Overheating and water wastage?

No

Yes (stresses system and wastes water)

No

Aesthetics

Good

Not good for thermosiphon and requires stronger roof

Good (if hidden)

Maintenance required?

No

Yes (every few years)

Yes (annual)

Price

Comparable or less expensive than pumped solar thermal.

Less expensive than heat pumps

Thermosiphon solar thermal systems are cheapest

Most expensive

Lifetime

30+ years

10 to 15 years

10 to 15 years

Roof space required

Two to three times more than solar thermal

2-4m²

None (but requires space for system)

Lifetime cost of energy

Best

Good

Worst (continue paying for electricity)

Section 12B tax benefit for “build to rent” property developers?

Yes

No

No

Heat pumps require maintenance and have ongoing electricity costs, while gas is expensive and fluctuates with changes in oil price.

There are several other considerations to take heed of when deciding between the different water heating options. The table above compares several factors for the three most popular alternative water heating options: solar PV, solar thermal and heat pumps.

Based on cost and all the considerations in the above table, solar PV and solar thermal are clearly preferable to heat pumps.

There are some situations where heat pumps are the only practical option – for example, multi-storey buildings with insufficient roof space for solar PV (carports can help overcome this issue). * Dr Sean Moolman is from PowerOptimal

36

If upfront cost is the overriding consideration, thermosiphon systems (the systems with the tank on the roof ) are the lowest initial cost option. However, when system lifetime and maintenance cost are included in the calculations (when looking at lifetime cost), solar PV is the most cost effective.

When taking winter performance, noise, power failures, maintenance requirements, overheating and water wastage into consideration, solar PV is advantageous to solar thermal.

Whichever option is preferable to individual circumstances, it has never made more financial and environmental sense than now to switch to an alternative method of heating water.

GREEN TECH

THE GREEN TECH

ECONOMIC ZONE The Atlantis Special Economic Zone is a key element in the Western Cape Government Economic Recovery Plan and the scheduling of the company as a provincial business enterprise bodes very well for its role as a game changer in the renewable energy sector.

T

he scheduling of the Atlantis Special Economic Zone (SEZ) State Owned Company (SOC) Limited as a provincial enterprise, has been approved by National Treasury.

The Atlantis SEZ (ASEZCo) with its green tech theme is a unique SEZ that speaks to the needs of investors in green tech manufacturing and is positioned as a cutting-edge destination for said manufacturers wanting to supply their technologies to Independent Power Producers bidding on the National Government renewable energy programme, the REIPPPP. Western Cape MEC for Finance and Economic Opportunities, David Maynier was delighted with the news of the ASEZCo being scheduled as a government business enterprise, “With this scheduling of the ASEZCo as a 3D listed entity, we are both thankful to National Treasury and excited by the prospects of new investment into infrastructure and green tech manufacturing in the Atlantis area. I trust that this listing of the ASEZCo will contribute significantly to our post-covid recovery efforts as the Western Cape Government.”

This is a major step forward in the evolvement of the Atlantis SEZ into an established and world-class green technology investment destination. Not only does it enable the Atlantis SEZ Company to register the acquired City of Cape Town land

The ASEZ aims to create up to 1 000 jobs by landing green tech manufacturing investment in the region of R3-billion.

in its name, but it also enables the formalisation of the City of Cape Town minority shareholding in the Atlantis SEZ Company and the transactional ability of the Company to enter into lease agreements with investors.

“Over the past few years, the region has emerged as a major player in the green tech sector with the opening of the Atlantis Special Economic Zone (ASEZ). The news that ASEZ has been scheduled as a provincial enterprise by National Treasury comes at an opportune time,” said Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth. “Since its inception, the ASEZ has already made around R700-million with at least five large-scale international investors that are fully operational. We are looking forward to greater benefits for the residents and businesses operating in the region.”

“It is with great excitement that we learn of our approved listing.

This is one of the ASEZCo’s largest achievements to date, alongside the signing of the sale agreement releasing land to the ASEZCo from the City of Cape Town,” said Dr Pierre Voges. “This will now allow us to accommodate investors on our land who are eager to exploit the opportunities to manufacture components for our green technology value chains in the Western Cape and South Africa.”

With economic recovery comes significant opportunities for employment creation. The ASEZ aims to create up to 1 000 jobs by landing green tech manufacturing investment in the region of R3-billion. Development of green infrastructure globally has been dubbed as a key step in economic recovery post the Covid pandemic. With the final steps concluded in the establishment of the Atlantis Special Economic Zone SOC, the Western Cape aims to capitalise on investors wanting to set up their manufacturing facilities capable of servicing these global green tech value chains.

Siemens wind towers manufactured at the Atlantis green tech SEZ.

37

FINANCE

INVESTORS PUSHING

the drive to net zero

Thirty two percent of investors are happy for their money to be used to reduce carbon emissions, regardless of return.

N

inety One recently published the second edition of the Planetary Pulse survey, entitled Investing for a Carbon Free World: What Investors Want. The survey of more than 6 000 individual investors across 10 markets (the UK, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, the US and Canada) found that investors are ready to support

the drive to net zero, with half of the respondents stating that asset managers should use their influence as shareholders in carbon-heavy companies to help facilitate the reduction in carbon emissions. This suggests that investors are ready to use their wealth and influence to invest in sustainable solutions which assist in the drive to reach net zero.

Quietly Cautious (28%)

· · · ·

Whatever Works (21%)

· Carefree attitude, tend to go with the flow · Interested in following investment trends · Becoming more aware of net zero

The Attentives (24%)

· C arefully planned, well researched, pay close attention to where their money ends up · Willing to pay more for things that are ethical and environmentally beneficial to do their part · Truly believe in net zero – building for a financial and planetary legacy

Confident Enthusiasts (27%)

· Focused on building income and wealth · Hungry for research, data and ideas · Net-zero enthusiasts, but without proper action by big polluting economies and sectors they will simply divest

38

Highly risk adverse L ess interested in interrogating ethics and practices of companies Not convinced net zero will affect climate change Limited to no knowledge of net zero

FINANCE Based on their answers, respondents fell into four broad investor personalities when they thought about investing overall and sustainable investing specifically.

Despite a clear knowledge gap, the concept of investing to achieve net-zero has positive appeal for four out of five investors.

However, many investors remain sceptical about their ability to contribute to efforts to tackle climate change, with 61% stating that they feel the worst polluter should be tackling the issues.

SOUTH AFRICAN RESPONSES

In the South African context, almost two thirds of the 1 109 investors interviewed had at least some knowledge about net zero. A total of 80% indicated that the principle of net zero appeals to them, and 74% believe it is the most effective way of slowing or stopping climate change. However, they feel it is more complicated than it appears: 51% believe there is no point working towards net zero unless every country does; 62% feel that simply reducing carbon is not enough – we also need to extract carbon from the atmosphere; and 54% believe that the consequences of simply getting rid of heavy carbon industries have not been properly thought through.

Despite a clear knowledge gap, the concept of investing to achieve net-zero has positive appeal for four out of five investors.

South African respondents were split in their views about their personal impact on the issue, with 58% believing that the onus should be on the worst polluters to tackle climate change, and 36% of the opinion that net zero is a pipe dream that will never be achieved. In addition, there seems to be little consensus about the status quo of net zero across respondents, with 58% saying they

READ REPORT

Globally, it is evident that divesting from high emitters will create significant risks and inescapable consequences for emerging markets, starving them of capital.

THOUGHT [ECO]NOMY

To really save the planet, we must help emerging markets go green. see little action being taken anywhere with regards to net zero, and 61% now seeing a real focus on net zero and climate change across business and government.

While 65% of South African respondents believe that less than half of their portfolios are invested in companies or funds that are helping the world to achieve net zero, 65% said they would increase that proportion over the next 12 months. Interestingly, 67% of respondents felt that investment managers can drive the move to net zero by using their influence as shareholders to help companies reduce their use or production of carbon, while only 21% felt that divesting in companies that are high carbon emitters would help to achieve this goal.

Globally, it is evident that divesting from high emitters will create significant risks and inescapable consequences for emerging markets, starving them of capital. While nearly half (49%) of all investors were able to see the negative impact divestment will have on the developing world, there is more conversation needed to raise awareness regarding allocation of capital to ensure an inclusive, global transition to net zero.

Encouragingly, these findings confirm the growing global movement to create long-term, impactful changes to tackle climate change, and shift to investing for net zero, with nine out of 10 global investors and 77% of South African investors stating that they believe that reducing carbon emissions should be encouraged and are happy for their money to play a part in achieving that aim. Moreover, 32% of investors (30% in South Africa) believe this so strongly that they are happy for their money to be used to reduce carbon emissions, regardless of return.

Hendrik du Toit, Founder and CEO, Ninety One: “We believe in sustainability with substance. However, there is an incontrovertible and sobering fact about the drive to net zero – any effort that does not work for the world’s 7.9 billion people, will fail everywhere. To really save the planet, we must help emerging markets go green.

That means robust carbon markets, debt-for-climate deals, and financing options to speed up the transition. As a company with its roots firmly in South Africa, we understand this need perhaps better than most. Emerging economies, after all, are not responsible for the bulk of emissions to date.”

INVESTING FOR A CARBON-FREE WORLD: WHAT INVESTORS WANT | Planetary Pulse by Ninety One | Research findings [October 2021]

greeneconomy/report recycle

Planetary Pulse 2021 is a global study of investors that’s been conducted across 10 markets to explore personal attitudes towards money and investing behaviours and beliefs. The study comprised two large scale online surveys: the first focussing on sustainable investing interviewed 9 298 investors, with a second follow up study among 6 034 end investors exploring attitudes and awareness of net-zero investing. Interviews were conducted from July to September 2021.

39

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