P I CT URE KM L / PEXEL S
SA A LEADING LIGHT IN DUMPING COAL – FAIRLY The country’s energy transition has significant ramifications for Africa and the world
S BY SALIEM FAKIR executive director of the African Climate Foundation. The ACF is the first African-led strategic climate change grant-making foundation on the continent established to provide a mechanism through which philanthropies can contribute to Africa’s efforts to address climate change .
OUTH AFRICA is influencing a new form of climate diplomacy – one that realises energy transitions are not necessarily negative to a country’s growth and development. In fact, South Africa’s pioneering work on the Just Energy Transition Transaction (Jett), which is being led by Eskom, holds significant opportunities for alternative and increased investment around clean energy solutions. This not only helps resolve South Africa’s carbon intensity but avoids the future penalisation of the economy as the world increasingly decarbonises. Carbon-intense industries 1 7
that are contributing to pollution will be penalised, whereas industries that promote lowcarbon activities and are aligned with decarbonisation goals will be incentivised. Trends such as the European Green Deal and China’s longterm decarbonisation plans, including its announcement at the UN General Assembly that it will no longer fund new coal projects outside of China, is a significant development. South Africa’s continued use of coal is increasingly looking like a bad idea. The proposed Jett, supported by the Cabinet, is one way to find a pathway to reduce its dependence on coal and expand its energy mix to cleaner solutions in a way that allows the
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country to attract investment in the clean energy sector. This path to a cleaner and greener future must also avoid the negative impacts on coalrelated employment and supply chains as the transition out of coal will eventually lead to job losses in mining and supply. Although these jobs will be lost in the longer term, the process can be managed effectively until then to avoid a drastic impact on the sector. South Africa’s climate diplomacy must be different, as we’re finding ourselves in a world where climate issues are not just an environmental concern but increasingly becoming a mainstream economic and development issue – especially for
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