South Africa facing the challenge of energy transition
Audio 04:19
A coal-fired power station in the mining town of Witbank, east of Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, on October 11, 2021. © AP - Themba Hadebe
By: Dominique Baillard Follow
4 min
A few days before the opening of COP26 in Glasgow, the commitment of the signatory countries of the Paris agreement to contain global warming is insufficient, warns the UN.
Only a handful of countries detailed their national contribution.
Among them, South Africa, which is also one of the world's leading polluters.
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In South Africa, coal is ubiquitous. It is used to produce 70% of electricity, it is also the energy used to manufacture a quarter of the fuel spent in transport. Coal is also a valuable source of currency, one third of production is exported. As a result, South Africa is the first African emitter of greenhouse gases, the twelfth emitter in the world. For very poor energy performance. The state-owned electricity company, Eskom, is unable to provide continuous power. It is crippled by debt, undermined by decades of corruption and today supported at arm's length by the state. In a country where the economy is at its worst - one in three South Africans is unemployed - and while a new wave of Covid-19 threatens,the government nevertheless wishes to honor the Paris agreement, providing for carbon neutrality by 2050. It recently published its national contribution with a detailed plan on its intermediate emission reduction targets by 2030, to limit the warming to 1.5 degrees.
Read also: South Africa: very polluting, Eskom facing the challenge of energy transition
For President Ramaphosa, South Africa has no real choice: its development depends on its energy transition.
He recalled a few days ago the threats to the economy if it does not make its transition on time.
It is exposed to the imposition of future green taxes on its export products, it could also suffer from the growing disinterest of investors, less and less attracted by industries based on fossil fuels.
Since coming to power Cyril Ramaphosa has relaunched solar and wind projects, sabotaged by his predecessor Jacob Zuma.
And to find financing, his development bank started issuing green bonds.
The first was bought in February 2021 by the French Development Agency, the second this fall by the American private fund Pimco.
Will raising money in the markets be enough to finance its transition?
Recourse to the market is welcome, but it is only a drop in the face of financing needs. These two issues relate to 200 million dollars each time, while the bill for the South African transition is estimated at 27 billion dollars. Without the money pledged by rich countries to finance the transition, South Africa, like other developing countries, will not be able to achieve its goals. This is the message that the South African delegation will bring to Glasgow. It will therefore remind the very first polluters on the planet of their duties towards the countries of the South: for the moment, they are not keeping their promises. The green fund intended for southern countries was to mobilize $ 100 billion per year from 2020 to help them cope with climate change.However, according to figures published yesterday by the OECD, this objective will not be reached before 2023. The question of financing will indeed be one of the crucial issues of this COP26.
IN SHORT
► COP26 again, with Australia's very vague commitment.
Here again, a country that consumes coal, and also its leading world exporter.
The government confirms that it is moving towards carbon neutrality in 2050, but without specifying its intermediate roadmap for 2030. However, this is a key element in achieving the final objective.
The Prime Minister also said that there was no question of giving up coal.
► To follow today a new crisis meeting in Brussels for European energy ministers.
They must work together to find ways to mitigate the soaring gas and electricity prices, but they are completely divided: 9 countries, including Germany, refuse the reform of the electricity market supported among others by France.
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Cyril Ramaphosa