South Africa’s government has taken the bold step to put an end to its dependency on coal for its energy with the approval by President Cyril Ramaphosa of the Just Transition Framework, under the Presidential Climate Commission that would unlock an investment portfolio worth approximately $8.5 billion (R140 billion) of opportunities for the country.
The Framework is expected to set out policy measures and undertakings by different social partners to minimize the social and economic impacts of the long-term move away from coal.
President Ramaphosa, while giving his final approval noted that “there will be a need for significant capital mobilization from both public and private sources especially as the framework is ready thus paving the way for the harnessing of the benefits of the Just Energy Transition Partnership which has been concluded with the governments of the US, United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the EU last year,” he said.
Ramaphosa also added that the framework advocates for a massive expansion of renewable energy, battery storage, new energy vehicles, green minerals, and the hydrogen economy.
“The consensus achieved around its production means we will be able to take the transition forward in sync with all these stakeholders. This is especially insofar as it impacts sectors such as mining, automotive, tourism, and agriculture,” said Ramaphosa.
The Presidential Climate Commission added that the new framework falls precisely within the national development plan’s goals and annual government budgeting processes.
“While the framework is not an implementation plan, it presents an organizing frame for us to coordinate our efforts around the just transition.
“It is a foundation for more work to follow, underpinned by significant mobilization towards social inclusion and help reach our climate goals, with a high degree of trust between all parties and a requisite policy intervention led by government, driven by industry and entrenched in our communities,” said the commission.
The plan is for South Africa to produce a draft investment plan in July and to have a final version signed off with the partner countries by early November
According to the president of COP26, Alok Sharma, the framework underpins an agreement between South Africa, the UK, the US, Germany, France, and European Union to unlock $8.5 billion in investment for South Africa. The investment is aimed specifically to assist South Africa in transitioning away from coal.
In a study conducted by COP26, South Africa – the world’s 13th biggest source of greenhouse gases – will need to spend over $250 billion over the next 30 years to fund the closing of coal-fired plants and develop green alternatives.
The country’s utility company Eskom which relies predominately on coal as a fuel source has come under intense criticism over the year and has earlier said it would implement a 5-stage load shedding on Wednesday and Thursday (6 and 7 July) and that rolling blackout will continue through to the weekend.
The ruling party ANC has urged the government and Eskom to consider increasing maintenance and improving the availability of the existing power supply, ensure the utility acquires the appropriate skills, and facilitate private investment in new generation capacity.
Meanwhile, the largest trade federation Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says it will oppose calls by businesses to unbundle and privatize Eskom
Cosatu added that the country’s load shedding problems cannot be placed at the feet of workers, and have been brewing for almost two decades and thus workers cannot be blamed for decades of neglect, underinvestment, and state capture,” it said.
