Podcasts about presidential climate commission

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What is a JETP and why is it so important to the just transition agenda? And what can we learn from South Africa's JETP progress? IHRB's Haley St Dennis talks to Yuri Ramkissoon from South Africa's Presidential Climate Commission, who is deeply involved in South Africa's JETP. Together, they unpack the JETP and explores how this form of climate finance is supporting a just and equitable transition to a low-carbon economy.

Dr. Brian Mantlana is Head of Climate at CSIR  and he joins John Maytham from COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, to describe the key goals of the senior delegation from South Africa's Presidential Climate Commission at the conference.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bongani Bingwa speaks to Steve Nicholls Head of Mitigation at The Presidential Climate Commission about the current weather conditions and what story it tells about climate change.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The issue of electricity affordability by South Africans has been on going, Simphiwe Ngwenya, Senior Manager - Mitigation, Presidential Climate Commission....joins Gugs Mhlungu to give a review.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  Clement Manyathela speaks to Dumisani Nxumalo, the acting Chief Operations Officer in the Presidential Climate Commission about the effects of climate change and advances made towards South Africa's just energy transition.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

South Africa's Presidential Climate Commission has recommended the country establish a body to guide investment in the country's energy transition. The Commission's recommendations come almost three years after the country entered into the Just Energy Transition Partnership with the US, UK, Germany, France and the European Union. In an effort to better understand the Just Energy Transition landcaspe, delegates have gathered for the Climate Resilience Symposium at the CSIR Convention Centre in Pretoria. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to Researcher on the Climate and Inequality Project at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at Wits University, Katrina Lehman-Grube.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. President Cyril Ramaphosa has provided some additional background to the Climate Change Response Fund, the formation of which he announced in his recent State of the Nation Address. Writing in his weekly newsletter, the President said the fund would seek to mobilise public and private finances to build greater climate resiliency, amid a rise in deadly extreme weather events and increased loss and damage to domestic infrastructure. "This includes climate-proofing existing essential infrastructure and facilities such as water and food systems, roads, rail and ports, human settlements and health care. "The fund will also collaborate with a variety of partners to respond to immediate needs in communities following climate change-related disasters," he added. The fund has been developed following the decision at COP28, which took place in the United Arab Emirates last year, to operationalise a Loss and Damage Fund, as well as the African Union Commission's establishment of a Climate Finance Unit in recognition of the continent's "extreme vulnerability to the effects of global warming". While highlighting wildfires in the Western Cape, heatwaves in the Northern Cape, continuing drought conditions in the Eastern Cape and intense storms in Gauteng, the President's letter also noted the reoccurence of flooding this year "even before we could properly recover and rebuild after the 2022 floods in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and North West". "The insurance industry is warning about the increasing costs of disaster risk finance, and even talking about the prospect of highly vulnerable regions eventually becoming uninsurable." The Climate Change Response Fund would form part of what was described as a "comprehensive response to climate change" that included both adaptation and measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The new fund would focus on adaptation, while the mitigation measures would be coordinated under the banner of the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan. Speaking at a Presidential Climate Commission meeting last week, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said the Climate Change Response Fund would be a "channel" for financial resources that could be made available to developing countries following the recent operationalisation of a Loss and Damage Fund. Creecy said consideration was being given to hosting the fund either at the Development Bank of Southern Africa or the Industrial Development Corporation but provided no timeframe from its implementation. She also confirmed that government would set aside some resources to capitalise the fund but indicated that the intention was to also crowd-in private finance in a manner similar to the Solidarity Fund that was set up during the Covid-19 pandemic. Resources secured for the fund could also be used to strengthen the country's early-warning systems for detecting extreme weather events, with Creecy noting that there were growing domestic and international examples of how the use of such systems had been effective in preventing the loss of life. Adaptation efforts, the Minister added, could also help ensure that climate-related loss and damage did not become a "bottomless pit" for municipalities and provinces, which currently relied on disaster-management allocations to finance relief efforts. "As a country we cannot be complacent about climate change because its impacts are already with us," Ramaphosa warned in his newsletter.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. President Cyril Ramaphosa has provided some additional background to the Climate Change Response Fund, the formation of which he announced in his recent State of the Nation Address. Writing in his weekly newsletter, the President said the fund would seek to mobilise public and private finances to build greater climate resiliency, amid a rise in deadly extreme weather events and increased loss and damage to domestic infrastructure. "This includes climate-proofing existing essential infrastructure and facilities such as water and food systems, roads, rail and ports, human settlements and health care. "The fund will also collaborate with a variety of partners to respond to immediate needs in communities following climate change-related disasters," he added. The fund has been developed following the decision at COP28, which took place in the United Arab Emirates last year, to operationalise a Loss and Damage Fund, as well as the African Union Commission's establishment of a Climate Finance Unit in recognition of the continent's "extreme vulnerability to the effects of global warming". While highlighting wildfires in the Western Cape, heatwaves in the Northern Cape, continuing drought conditions in the Eastern Cape and intense storms in Gauteng, the President's letter also noted the reoccurence of flooding this year "even before we could properly recover and rebuild after the 2022 floods in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and North West". "The insurance industry is warning about the increasing costs of disaster risk finance, and even talking about the prospect of highly vulnerable regions eventually becoming uninsurable." The Climate Change Response Fund would form part of what was described as a "comprehensive response to climate change" that included both adaptation and measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The new fund would focus on adaptation, while the mitigation measures would be coordinated under the banner of the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan. Speaking at a Presidential Climate Commission meeting last week, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said the Climate Change Response Fund would be a "channel" for financial resources that could be made available to developing countries following the recent operationalisation of a Loss and Damage Fund. Creecy said consideration was being given to hosting the fund either at the Development Bank of Southern Africa or the Industrial Development Corporation but provided no timeframe from its implementation. She also confirmed that government would set aside some resources to capitalise the fund but indicated that the intention was to also crowd-in private finance in a manner similar to the Solidarity Fund that was set up during the Covid-19 pandemic. Resources secured for the fund could also be used to strengthen the country's early-warning systems for detecting extreme weather events, with Creecy noting that there were growing domestic and international examples of how the use of such systems had been effective in preventing the loss of life. Adaptation efforts, the Minister added, could also help ensure that climate-related loss and damage did not become a "bottomless pit" for municipalities and provinces, which currently relied on disaster-management allocations to finance relief efforts. "As a country we cannot be complacent about climate change because its impacts are already with us," Ramaphosa warned in his newsletter.

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has released a draft Bill for public comment outlining the establishment of the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), which the proposed legislation defines as the "State's energy champion and facilitator of energy infrastructure across the energy value chain". The Bill states that the Minerals Resources and Energy Minister will be the sole shareholder of the SANPC. The proposed legislation outlines a consolidation of the entities currently associated with the Central Energy Fund (CEF) - including PetroSA, iGas, and the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) - and states that the company will pursue the "free carry model" outlined in the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Bill, approved by the National Assembly in late October. While the proposed State-owned entity will focus primarily on oil and gas exploration and production, as well as midstream and downstream operations and infrastructure, the Bill outlines a broad mandate empowering the proposed entity to acquire, generate, manufacture, market or distribute "any form of energy", including renewable energy. Such a mandate may imply a possible overlap with Eskom, South Africa's vertically integrated electricity utility, which is itself undergoing far-reaching restructuring to separate its generation, transmission and distribution entities. Mantashe, who is a strong supporter of the continued exploration, development and use of fossil fuels in South Africa, has also indicated previously that a new State-owned company could seek to repurpose some of Eskom's retiring coal power stations to gas in a move that some commentators suggest reflects the Minister's aspiration to create an 'Eskom 2.0'. The proposal also featured during an explosive interview by eNCA of then Eskom CEO André de Ruyter, who revealed that he had received a request from the CEF to transfer Camden, Hendrina and Grootvlei to the CEF. For its part, the CEF defended its approach to Eskom as a request to intensify gas-to-power collaboration between the two State-owned entities. The official coal retirement plan has been thrown into question, however, amid intense power cuts and increasing political resistance to decommissioning, and there is a growing likelihood that the retirement schedule will be reviewed. This life-extension plan could well receive impetus from a report written by a Vgbe-led consortium and commissioned by the National Treasury. The report has not yet been published but is expected to make technical inputs on the feasibility of extending operations at the aged plants of Arnot, Camden and Hendrina. There has already been strong pushback against the recent retirement of Komati, even though the over 60-year-old station had only one of its nine units operating and producing at increasingly expensive rates when it was shut in late 2022. The Presidential Climate Commission recently provided President Cyril Ramaphosa with recommendations on how future decommissioning should be implemented, following extensive engagement with stakeholders relating to the Komati experience. A formal report from the commission is expected to be published soon. For its part, Eskom's latest Medium-Term System Adequacy Outlook confirms that the shutdown plan used in previous such reports is under review. Meanwhile, the Bill states iGas, PetroSA and SFF employees will be transferred to the SANPC once the legislation takes effect. The draft Bill was published in the Government Gazette on November 13, with a 30-day comment period.

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has released a draft Bill for public comment outlining the establishment of the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), which the proposed legislation defines as the "State's energy champion and facilitator of energy infrastructure across the energy value chain". The Bill states that the Minerals Resources and Energy Minister will be the sole shareholder of the SANPC. The proposed legislation outlines a consolidation of the entities currently associated with the Central Energy Fund (CEF) - including PetroSA, iGas, and the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) - and states that the company will pursue the "free carry model" outlined in the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Bill, approved by the National Assembly in late October. While the proposed State-owned entity will focus primarily on oil and gas exploration and production, as well as midstream and downstream operations and infrastructure, the Bill outlines a broad mandate empowering the proposed entity to acquire, generate, manufacture, market or distribute "any form of energy", including renewable energy. Such a mandate may imply a possible overlap with Eskom, South Africa's vertically integrated electricity utility, which is itself undergoing far-reaching restructuring to separate its generation, transmission and distribution entities. Mantashe, who is a strong supporter of the continued exploration, development and use of fossil fuels in South Africa, has also indicated previously that a new State-owned company could seek to repurpose some of Eskom's retiring coal power stations to gas in a move that some commentators suggest reflects the Minister's aspiration to create an 'Eskom 2.0'. The proposal also featured during an explosive interview by eNCA of then Eskom CEO André de Ruyter, who revealed that he had received a request from the CEF to transfer Camden, Hendrina and Grootvlei to the CEF. For its part, the CEF defended its approach to Eskom as a request to intensify gas-to-power collaboration between the two State-owned entities. The official coal retirement plan has been thrown into question, however, amid intense power cuts and increasing political resistance to decommissioning, and there is a growing likelihood that the retirement schedule will be reviewed. This life-extension plan could well receive impetus from a report written by a Vgbe-led consortium and commissioned by the National Treasury. The report has not yet been published but is expected to make technical inputs on the feasibility of extending operations at the aged plants of Arnot, Camden and Hendrina. There has already been strong pushback against the recent retirement of Komati, even though the over 60-year-old station had only one of its nine units operating and producing at increasingly expensive rates when it was shut in late 2022. The Presidential Climate Commission recently provided President Cyril Ramaphosa with recommendations on how future decommissioning should be implemented, following extensive engagement with stakeholders relating to the Komati experience. A formal report from the commission is expected to be published soon. For its part, Eskom's latest Medium-Term System Adequacy Outlook confirms that the shutdown plan used in previous such reports is under review. Meanwhile, the Bill states iGas, PetroSA and SFF employees will be transferred to the SANPC once the legislation takes effect. The draft Bill was published in the Government Gazette on November 13, with a 30-day comment period.

Calls are growing for government to overhaul its free basic energy (FBE) scheme amid indications that fewer than a quarter of qualifying indigent households are benefiting from the 50-kWh-a-month currently on offer and with the scale of the grant being described as insufficient to reduce poverty and inequality. Public Affairs Research Institute senior researcher Dr Tracy Ledger argues that, given evidence showing electricity's developmental returns to be as large or larger than any of South Africa's other social welfare interventions, universal access should be elevated to the same level as access to education. "I think we need to start thinking about electricity in the same way that we think about education. "We understand that even though the benefits of education accrue to the individual, overall, the whole of society and the whole of the economy benefits . . . it would be extremely short-sighted of any government to say, 'oh, well, if you're too poor to pay for an education, you can't have one'," Ledger argued during a Presidential Climate Commission dialogue on energy poverty. She also reiterated the call she and co-author Mahlatse Rampedi made in their book Hungry for Electricity for the monthly FBE allocation to be increased to 350 kWh, which they argue to be the minimum threshold at which electricity begins yielding meaningful socioeconomic benefits. "The main reason why grid-connected households cannot access that amount of electricity currently is because of the cost," she explained, indicating that it currently cost a low-income household with a pre-payment metre about R800 to buy R350 kWh. "To put that in context, 55% of South African households have a monthly income of less than R6 000 a month, which means R800 rand a month is nearly 15% of their monthly income." Many poor households are, thus, currently having to choose between electricity and food, which is increasing levels of food insecurity and malnutrition. Compounding matters is the fact that only 25% of indigent households are receiving their FBE allowance, owing to the fact that many municipalities are failing to maintain indigency registers and are using funds specifically provided for FBE under the equitable share elsewhere. The National Treasury's Malijeng Ngqaleni acknowledged the monthly 50 kWh to be inadequate but said increasing the allocation under the current arrangement would not alleviate energy poverty, as its analysis shows that many municipalities are currently diverting the funds away from the intended recipients. A total of R57.6-billion has been set aside for FBE for the current three-year expenditure period to 2025/26, but the National Treasury was concerned that there could be "significant fiscal leakage". Ledger agreed that implementation had to be materially improved before increasing the size of the benefit and also proposed major, albeit controversial, changes to the way the scheme is implemented in future. Eskom, she noted, should be supplying about five-million indigent households, but was supplying only about 800 000 currently, as the utility is reliant on the indigent list being supplied to it by the municipalities. "I think there's a good case to be made for diverting that part of the equitable share that should end up in Eskom anyway, directly to Eskom, and let Eskom register those indigent households." Eskom's Onicah Rantwane reported that the utility was indeed engaging with government on the possibility of ring-fencing the costs allocated for customers in Eskom-supplied areas and having those amounts paid to Eskom directly. However, she argued that there was also an urgent need to restructure the retail tariff to reflect unbundled costs, as changes under way in the electricity sector meant that pro-poor policies, such as the inclining block tariff (IBT), would begin penalising poor consumers over time. "Customers investing in alternative energy sources and energy efficiency are usually relatively affluent. Under the IBT,...

Guest: Lebogang Mulaisi, Presidential Climate Commission COO.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eskom reports that concessional funding of $497-million secured for the repowering and repurposing of the Komati coal power station, in Mpumalanga, is expected to become effective at the end of July. The final unit of Komati, which entered into commercial operation in 1961, was shut on October 31 last year and the site has since emerged as the flagship location for Eskom's Just Energy Transition (JET) strategy. A funding agreement for Komati's repowering and repurposing was signed in February and includes a blend of finance that includes a $439.5-million loan from the World Bank, a $47.5-million loan from the Canada Clean Energy and Forest Climate Facility and a $10-million grant from the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program. During a Presidential Climate Commission stakeholder meeting at the Komati site on July 7, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan argued that Komati was where the “tyre hit the road” when it came to implementing the JET strategy. Gordhan added that it would also provide lessons for its implementation at other stations approaching retirement, including Camden, Hendrina and Grootvlei. However, he indicated that their retirement dates might have to be delayed in light of South Africa's ongoing loadshedding crisis. Eskom reported that the funding would be used to implement an initial 100 MW solar photovoltaic project, a 150 MW battery energy storage deployment and a 70 MW wind project to repower the site. In addition, funds will be employed to support various repurposing projects, such as agrivoltaics and aquaponics schemes, the development of a microgrid assembly line and various training programmes, including technical training for solar and wind installers to be delivered in partnership with the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre. The utility has received a Section 34 Ministerial notice approving the development of the solar and battery projects and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa has also provided its concurrence. An owner's engineer will be appointed in August to support the development and execution of the repowering projects and Eskom expects to approach the market for the construction of the solar and battery projects in the second quarter of 2024. Engineering, procurement and construction contractors are expected to be appointed later in the year and construction completed in 2026. Site-specific wind resource testing is also currently under way and Eskom expects to launch an initial 50 MW wind tender in the third quarter of 2024 for commercial operation in 2027. Engineering and design is also under way for the construction of three synchronous condensers on the site to offer grid stabilisation services and to help with voltage control. A contractor for the project is also currently scheduled to be appointed later this year and the project implemented in 2025 and 2026. By 2030, Eskom expects the Komati site to have renewables generation capacity of 370 MW and to have developed a pipeline of further repowering and repurposing opportunities. By that same date, Eskom expects to have generated 660 net direct full-time jobs in and around Komati, as well as 8 700 temporary jobs. In addition, it is planning for the facility to be training 200 people yearly, while also producing containerised microgrids for use in far-flung areas of South Africa and the rest of Africa. Eskom told stakeholders that a key lesson to have emerged already related to the need to initiate JET projects well before coal decommissioning so as to limit the disruption that such shutdowns caused to local economies and communities.

State-owned electricity utility Eskom is preparing to issue updated grid queuing rules that will outline how it plans to manage scarce grid connection capacity in a way that avoids “hogging” of capacity and ensures that only “shovel-ready” project are allocated capacity. The new approach is contained in what Eskom terms its Interim Grid Capacity Allocation Rules (IGCAR) document, which outlines a shift from the ‘first come, first served' framework that has hitherto been implemented to one based on ‘first ready, first served'. The absence of a queuing system came to the fore during the sixth bid window of the country's public renewables procurement programme when none of the 23 onshore wind projects that bid for a 3 200 MW allocation were selected as preferred bids, owing to claims of grid over-subscription in the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape provinces. Eskom tells Engineering News that the rules under the IGCAR are “aimed at ensuring that as many generators are connected to the grid as soon as possible and also ensuring that there is no capacity hogging”. The IGCAR has been developed following consultation with the industry and, while they do not require any approval by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, given that Section 21 of the Electricity Regulation Act grants Eskom power over the rules, the utility will nevertheless seek to have the rules adopted and approved by the regulator. In addition, Eskom intends hosting a briefing session with industry in the coming two weeks to clarify how it intends managing the IGCAR. Eskom has also communicated with the industry that it will resume with processing budget quotes (BQs) for grid access in the Cape region once the IGCAR process has been finalised. Having also been criticised previously for the length of time it was taking its Grid Access Unit to issue BQs, Eskom reports that it is in the process of ensuring that timeframes can be reduced. “On average in the last 12 months, it has taken eight months to issue a BQ due to issues both internal to Eskom and in the industry,” Eskom tells Engineering News. The utility confirms that its Grid Access Unit currently has 28 staff members, but stresses that the bulk of the technical work is done by the various technical experts in the distribution and transmission divisions. “The goal is to issue BQs within six months and the introduction of the IGCAR and other initiatives will result in improved delivery times,” Eskom states. “There are currently 45 BQs that have been issued between 1 April 2021 to 30 November 2022 which have been delayed for various reasons with a total capacity of 4 717 MW.” The importance of having queuing rules that are supportive of shovel-ready projects has been amplified by the result of a recent survey showing that there is a 66 GW pipeline of wind and solar projects at various stages of development, including about 18 GW that could be considered ready to proceed. There have also been intensifying calls for a clarification of the rules in light of the fact that the market is no longer dominated by a single public procurement programme, following the removal of the licensing threshold for embedded generation projects. Operation Vulindlela reports that this reform, together with a streamlining of project approvals means that projects are theoretically able to add capacity to the grid more quickly and has resulted in an embedded generation project pipeline of 108 projects with a combined capacity of just over 10 GW. During a recent presentation to the Presidential Climate Commission, the Presidency's Rudi Dicks, who oversees Operation Vulindlela, confirmed that Eskom was revising its grid capacity allocation principles with the aim of allocating available capacity to projects that are ready to proceed.

The government's climate body, the Presidential Climate Commission has raised concerns about the financing of the expansion of the electricity grid capacity. The Commission was briefing the media virtually yesterday. It says that while there is consensus between all stakeholders on the significance of upgrading and expanding the national grid - the funding element must be cleared. The commission says they have made recommendations on the implementation of the Just Energy Transition Investment plan. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Blessing Manale, Head of Communications for the Presidential Climate Commission

Worsening energy blackouts are crippling South Africa. They're being caused in part by an over-reliance on ageing coal-fired power stations which can't produce enough electricity. The government has an ambitious plan to rapidly build up solar and wind power by opening up the grid to private providers. But it's facing opposition from the coal lobby. Will this electricity crisis be the thing that finally pushes South Africa to implement its climate plan? And can it be implemented in a way that treats all South Africans equally, and doesn't unfairly benefit a rich minority? Presenters Sophie Eastaugh and Luke Jones are joined by: Dr Nthabiseng Mohlakoana, expert in South Africa's Just Energy transition, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands Steve Nicholls, Head of Mitigation at the Presidential Climate Commission, South Africa's Elna Schutz, freelance journalist who spoke to businesses in and around Johannesburg Email us: theclimatequestion@bbc.com Producer: Laurence Knight Researcher: Matt Toulson Production Coordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed Series Producer: Alex Lewis Editor: Richard Vadon Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell

As Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Commission, Dr Crispian Olver is at the very centre of South Africa's swirling energy policy debate. The commission's job isn't just to plan a way forward for the country, but to find the money to do it. In this first 2023 edition of Podcasts from the Edge he tells Peter Bruce that, despite setbacks and the growing power of the fossil fuel obsessed minerals and energy minister Gwede Mantashe, plans raised to wean South Africa off coal and presented to the COP27 climate conference in Egypt last November are still in place. The $8.5bn pledged by the EU, the US and the UK is, he says, “secure” despite the resignation of Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter, who helped raise the money in the first place. Nonetheless, he concedes, we are “in a very real and tangible crisis and we have manifestly failed to make sure that we have the generating capacity” we need. “You can't sugar-coat the bald facts,” says Olver. De Ruyter, he says, did a lot of good but “clearly didn't have his hands on the machinery at Eskom”. As for the ANC “decision” recently to pass control of Eskom to the department of minerals and energy, the absence of management skills there would make it a “catastrophic move” if it were to happen. “I think there needs to be a second take,” he suggests. For Olver, two key reforms are irreversible. First the decision to carve a separate transmission company out of Eskom is happening (however slowly). Second, there are no limits anymore on how much power private sector companies can now generate. It may all take a while to gel but it can't be stopped.

The strategic role of platinum group metals (PGMs) in the creation of a hydrogen economy is the key supporting element of the just energy transition investment plan unveiled by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection researcher Dr Nqobile Xaba emphasises in an op-ed. Given the criticality of PGMs in achieving global net-zero emission targets, Xaba questions the sufficiency of South Africa's gearing to leverage off its PGM endowment. Green hydrogen electrolysers and fuel cells are poised to increase demand for PGMs, which are used in electrolysers to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen, and in fuel cells to generate electricity from the hydrogen, with both playing key decarbonisation roles. Emphasised by Xaba is that green hydrogen technologies will likely not be fully implemented until this cleanest form of hydrogen can be produced competitively. To that end, the procurement of wind and solar renewables needs to be accelerated, along with development of infrastructure, including hydrogen distribution and storage infrastructure. The basis of South Africa's Hydrogen Society Roadmap is the use of hydrogen and hydrogen technologies to promote economic development and as South Africa moves to implement the roadmap's strategies, it has the potential to become a participant and scientific thought leader in the emerging global hydrogen system. Because South Africa will be competing for the same markets with other countries in the Southern African Development Community, Xaba emphasises that an acceleration of pace is needed by South Africa to ensure that it derives optimum benefit from green hydrogen export opportunity. Xaba contends that current policies do not adequately factor in the availability of materials for both the renewable energy transition and the adoption of the circular economy. To realise the green hydrogen ambitions outlined in the just energy transition investment plan, she highlights the need for South Africa to build mineral beneficiation value chains to meet hydrogen economy requirements. “South Africa should ensure that it retains its competitiveness in the PGM sector for its economic sustenance and for its low carbon transition strategies. This can be done through the creation of a thriving hydrogen economy,” says Xaba in advocating: PGM beneficiation through catalyst development for fuel cell and electrolyser applications to ensure that mineral value addition occurs in South Africa; support to enable South Africa's research and development efforts to be channelled towards product commercialisation; and an enabling environment for a thriving hydrogen economy, with both the Presidential Climate Commission's framework for a just transition and the Hydrogen Society Roadmap setting out implementation steps. In addition, South Africa's mineral beneficiation strategy provides a framework, she says, for using mineral endowments to support the overall competitiveness of the economy and promoting greenness. The creation of an enabling environment must, in her view, include funding support for research and development, and skills development programmes to ensure that there will be a capable hydrogen economy workforce. “It must also include science diplomacy initiatives that ensure engagement with international partners and facilitate the deployment of hydrogen technology demonstration prototypes of fuel cells and electrolysers for energy needs,” she adds. These need to be rolled out across the country to support service delivery meaningfully, and to encourage engagement with the new technologies. Connecting all these requirements should be a strong government, research institution, the private sector and civil society partnership. “These partnerships are critical in ensuring that projects succeed, a common vision is maintained, and that South Africa's hydrogen economy is guided by the just transition framework,” Xaba concludes.

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy reports that public consultations on the country's Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP), which was unveiled only days before the start of COP27, should be concluded by mid-February. In a briefing following the conclusion of the climate negotiations that took place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Creecy said that the Presidential Climate Commission would help facilitate the consultations, which she said would “fundamentally assist us in shaping the implementation plan”. Responding to criticism over the lack of domestic consultation ahead of the plan's presentation, in Egypt, by President Cyril Ramaphosa to the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) countries of Germany, France, the European Union, the US and the UK, she stressed the JET-IP required Cabinet approval before it could be released for consultation. She also stressed that the Cabinet had also endorsed the Just Transition Framework, which committed government to refrain from “making decisions around transitions without involving workers and communities in vulnerable sectors”. “On the Friday [November 4] before the opening of COP27, the President handed the JET-IP over to the Presidential Climate Commission to facilitate engagements and we are discussing a process that would probably conclude mid-February,” Creecy said. The JET-IP outlines investments valued at a combined R1.5-trillion that should be made in the electricity, electric vehicle and green hydrogen sectors over the five years from 2023 to 2027 to enable South Africa to meet its climate commitments, stabilise energy supply and cushion vulnerable workers and communities. The plan has been endorsed by all the leaders of the JETP countries, which pledged $8.5-billion to support South Africa's JET-IP at COP26, which was held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021. Besides emphasising that South Africa required far more than the $8.5-billion on offer, Creecy reported that Ramaphosa also used his meetings in Egypt to reinforce that South Africa required highly concessional loans and grants to support its transition. “He also indicated that the government of South Africa will now employ a project manager who will be responsible to implement the JET-IP as soon as the Presidential Climate Commission concludes its work on stakeholder consultations.” Hitherto, the Presidential Climate Finance Task Team, headed by Daniel Mminele, had overseen the drafting of the JET-IP, which had already resulted in France's Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Germany's Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) advancing loans of €300-million apiece to the National Treasury. Both loans had a 20-year maturity, with the AFD loan carrying an interest rate of 3.6%, and the KfW loan 3%. In a recent statement the National Treasury estimated that raising an equivalent loan in the market would have attracted an interest rate of 8.9%. Asked whether any progress had been made on the side-lines of COP27 in attracting additional members to the JETP and expanding the funding pool for the JET-IP, Creecy confirmed that she had held several bilateral meetings with other prospective partners. “I'm not in a position at this stage to announce anything concrete, but I can say there is interest and we do expect, in due course, that we will be able to announce the inclusion of further partners.” The JET-IP would also feature as part of Ramaphosa's State visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; the first to be hosted by King Charles III and a visit that includes official bilateral talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. In her overview of COP27, meanwhile, Creecy indicated that South Africa viewed the agreement on the establishment of a fund on loss and damage as a key milestone in light of 30 years of disagreement on the issue. She said a transitional committee had been set up to work on the modalities of the fund with a view to taking a decision at COP28 in 2023. “...

With South Africa having committed to transition away from coal, investments will not only be required for the retiring of coal plants and the ramping up of renewable energy, but also for coal communities, who will require alternative economic development plans to sustain the livelihoods of all those affected. Green hydrogen and fuel cells researcher Dr Nqobile Xaba emphasised this in a nine-page policy paper for Mistra, the research organisation Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection, headed by executive director Joel Netshitenzhe. “This is crucial, as climate resilience in South Africa must be built around renewable energy,” Xaba wrote on navigating Africa's road to COP27. Mining Weekly can report that the related green hydrogen sector will also receive a percentage of South African funding. The United Nations Climate Conference, or COP27, currently underway in Egypt, confirms the dire need for funding to combat climate change if we are to implement the energy transition and avert an environmental disaster. The International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) notes that an investment of circa $131-trillion in the energy transition is required by 2050 to fulfil the Paris Climate Agreement, and that the lion's share of this investment must come from the private sector, including 60% from debt financing. To enable this, new instruments are needed, Irena states. South Africa is set to invest the bulk of an $8.5-billion (R152-billion) climate-finance deal being offered by wealthy nations on bolstering its energy supply. The absolute necessity of moving further and faster to transition to renewable energy is being repeatedly shouted from COP27 rooftops amid the shock to global energy markets set off by Russia's invasion of Ukraine underscoring the need to move to cheaper, cleaner, safer energy sources that can be built quicker and cheaper than conventional fossil fuel and nuclear power stations. Widespread media coverage of the speeches given by world leaders at COP27 included United Nations secretary general António Guterres describing the world as being “on the highway to climate hell, with our foot still on the accelerator, and calling for a new climate solidarity pact in which rich countries would help poorer nations financially. “We are in the fight of our lives and we are losing.We can sign a climate solidarity pact, or a collective suicide pact,” Guterres emphasised. “Choose life over death.It is not time for moral cowardice,” was the comment of former US vice president Al Gore. In her Mistra policy paper, Xaba highlighted the vulnerability to climate change impacts of the African continent. “Extreme weather events will continue to wreak havoc in communities and therefore need urgent solutions,” Xaba added. A just transition framework for South Africa, drafted by the Presidential Climate Commission, has been adopted by Parliament, the Climate Change Bill has been introduced, and the Electricity Regulation Act, No 4 of 2006 has been amended to allow for uncapped power generation for independent power production. These are some of the critical policies that are described as enabling the development of an effective climate change response in South Africa. These policy milestones, coupled with the revised Nationally Determined Contribution, are placing South Africa in a negotiating position at COP27. Climate solutions are described by Xaba as a health priority; and therefore health matters should be prioritised as part of the plans to combat climate change. This is not yet reflected in most health systems in Africa. Rising temperatures coupled with food insecurity, insufficient clean water sources, and higher levels of air pollution result in diseases that threaten lives. The Paris Agreement explicitly links climate action with a healthier environment. Climate change resilience can be built by creating new ways to use the planet's resources wisely to protect human health and natural ecosystems. The Right Here, Right Now ...

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel insists that South Africa's New Energy Vehicle (NEV) Roadmap is taking shape amid warnings that, absent urgent government decisions on the future support framework, the domestic automotive manufacturing sector is at serious risk. He has also indicated that the NEV support framework would seek to use and build on the architecture in place under the second phase of the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP2) and would be production- rather than consumption-led. In a presentation to the Presidential Climate Commission, Patel released details of what he described as a roadmap “working document”, which was premised on there being a “compelling” case for South Africa to make the strategic shift to NEVs. That conclusion was reached following a cost-benefit analysis, showing that it would be more advantageous to transition South Africa's manufacturing focus away from internal combustion engines (ICEs) to NEVs than to seek to capture a larger slice of the remaining ICE markets as international vehicle manufacturers began upscaling their NEV strategies. The analysis shows that it will be challenging to secure new ICE export markets that will offset the decline in its main current export markets of the UK and the European Union (EU), which currently absorb 45% of South Africa's yearly passenger vehicle production. The UK and the EU have already announced that they will bar sale of ICE vehicles and soft hybrids (cars that use an electric motor alongside a combustion engine, but which cannot run on electric power alone) from 2030 and 2035 respectively. In addition, both are planning to introduce carbon taxes on imports. Shifting to NEVs, Patels said, would mean that South Africa could either retain or potentially grow an industry that currently contributed between 4% and 5% of gross domestic product and a value chain that employed 100 000 people directly. Government also estimates that the support programmes it currently uses to incentivise local production have been “roughly fiscally neutral over the last five years”. “So, we have not closed our eyes to the other options; we have looked at them and we have concluded that it would be in South Africa's best interest to move to electric vehicles.” Patel reported that, having reached that conclusion, government was currently focusing on the development of a “competitive support package” to create an enabling environment for the domestic production of NEVs. He said that there was growing convergence within government on the package, but stressed that it was a “complex” and “challenging” discussion given the country's fiscal constraints and the many competing needs for scarce Budgetary resources. “We have moved from a set of costing exercises, to a point that there is a growing convergence within government on what is required for the enabling environment for NEV production in South Africa.” The fiscal implications of the NEV support package would be announced by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, who recently met with local automotive executives to outline the principles that would govern the National Treasury's approach to the matter. Patel also reported that government would opt for a production-led model, rather than the consumption-led strategy advocated by various industry stakeholders, whereby growth in domestic demand, supported by lower tariff barriers, triggered investment. “Our approach is led by a focus on the ‘at-risk export' markets. “Let's get production of EVs right, export to those markets where there is both the spending power and the regulatory incentives to encourage consumption. “And then off the back of bringing down the prices through what we have been able to achieve through export runs, sell an increasing quantity in the domestic market and, at an appropriate point, look at incentives that will get motorists to shift to EV consumption.” Government will also seek to build on the APDP2 architecture ...

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel insists that South Africa's New Energy Vehicle (NEV) Roadmap is taking shape amid warnings that, absent urgent government decisions on the future support framework, the domestic automotive manufacturing sector is at serious risk. He has also indicated that the NEV support framework would seek to use and build on the architecture in place under the second phase of the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP2) and would be production- rather than consumption-led. In a presentation to the Presidential Climate Commission, Patel released details of what he described as a roadmap “working document”, which was premised on there being a “compelling” case for South Africa to make the strategic shift to NEVs. That conclusion was reached following a cost-benefit analysis, showing that it would be more advantageous to transition South Africa's manufacturing focus away from internal combustion engines (ICEs) to NEVs than to seek to capture a larger slice of the remaining ICE markets as international vehicle manufacturers began upscaling their NEV strategies. The analysis shows that it will be challenging to secure new ICE export markets that will offset the decline in its main current export markets of the UK and the European Union (EU), which currently absorb 45% of South Africa's yearly passenger vehicle production. The UK and the EU have already announced that they will bar sale of ICE vehicles and soft hybrids (cars that use an electric motor alongside a combustion engine, but which cannot run on electric power alone) from 2030 and 2035 respectively. In addition, both are planning to introduce carbon taxes on imports. Shifting to NEVs, Patels said, would mean that South Africa could either retain or potentially grow an industry that currently contributed between 4% and 5% of gross domestic product and a value chain that employed 100 000 people directly. Government also estimates that the support programmes it currently uses to incentivise local production have been “roughly fiscally neutral over the last five years”. “So, we have not closed our eyes to the other options; we have looked at them and we have concluded that it would be in South Africa's best interest to move to electric vehicles.” Patel reported that, having reached that conclusion, government was currently focusing on the development of a “competitive support package” to create an enabling environment for the domestic production of NEVs. He said that there was growing convergence within government on the package, but stressed that it was a “complex” and “challenging” discussion given the country's fiscal constraints and the many competing needs for scarce Budgetary resources. “We have moved from a set of costing exercises, to a point that there is a growing convergence within government on what is required for the enabling environment for NEV production in South Africa.” The fiscal implications of the NEV support package would be announced by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, who recently met with local automotive executives to outline the principles that would govern the National Treasury's approach to the matter. Patel also reported that government would opt for a production-led model, rather than the consumption-led strategy advocated by various industry stakeholders, whereby growth in domestic demand, supported by lower tariff barriers, triggered investment. “Our approach is led by a focus on the ‘at-risk export' markets. “Let's get production of EVs right, export to those markets where there is both the spending power and the regulatory incentives to encourage consumption. “And then off the back of bringing down the prices through what we have been able to achieve through export runs, sell an increasing quantity in the domestic market and, at an appropriate point, look at incentives that will get motorists to shift to EV consumption.” Government will also seek to build on the APDP2 architecture ...

As global carbon emissions continue to rise, sea levels are not holding back, agricultural output has seen a staggering decline and the quality of our environment is being gravely compromised. In this episode, our multimedia journalist Hlengiwe Motaung talks to Crispian Olver, Executive Director at the Presidential Climate Commission, about how the mining industry can facilitate the journey towards net zero.

South Africa's environment Minister Barbara Creecy has criticised the lack of progress, since COP26, in the area of climate finance support for developing countries, arguing that there has been a failure to promote “adequate ambition”. Speaking at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin, Germany, Creecy said it was time to tackle climate finance with the sense of urgency and scale it deserved. Quoting the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change standing committee on finance, Creecy highlighted that developing countries needed between $5- and $11-trillion to meet their climate objectives. However, an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development report shows that only about $80-billion has been mobilised. “The only way we can re-establish credibility in financial provision is to set a realistic goal for developed countries to mobilise at least $1-trillion per annum to assist developing countries meet their climate change objectives,” Creecy said at the dialogue, which is being held as part of preparations for the COP27 talks, scheduled for Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November. Creecy also lamented the lack of progress in relation to discussions on loss and damage, adaptation, and the just transition, which she said remained trapped in process-related discussions. “We can only avoid loss and minimise damage with the appropriate scale of public finance that does not exacerbate the indebtedness of Africa.” The Minister reported that South Africa was accelerating its own climate actions, with a Climate Bill currently before Parliament, which would lay the regulatory framework for the implementation of the country's climate commitments. A Just Transition Framework had also been finalised with the support of the Presidential Climate Commission, which would “form the basis for our long-term climate action”. “To this end, we have set up a Task Team to develop an investment plan for the Just Energy Transition Partnership, or ‘JETP', announced in Glasgow, with our partner countries – Germany, France, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU).” A JETP Investment Plan is currently being finalised ahead of COP27 and it is anticipated that some projects may even receive funding support ahead of the event. COAL BACKSLIDING Creecy also used the dialogue to slam those developed countries that were “reverting back to coal in response to their negative national circumstances”, particularly after some developing countries were “vilified” at COP26 for stressing their national circumstances in relation to the continued use of fossil fuels. “Developed countries must continue taking the lead with ambitious action. “The ultimate measure of climate leadership is not what countries do in times of comfort and convenience, but what they do in times of challenge and controversy.” A number of European countries are pushing ahead with plans to temporarily increase the use of coal, oil and even nuclear to mitigate Russian moves to limit gas supply in response to sanctions imposed following its military invasion of Ukraine. In fact, the International Energy Agency (IEA) argued in a statement that such increases could help to minimise gas use in the power sector, which is one of five steps that the agency said should be taken by European countries to “avoid a major gas crunch this winter”. The other four interventions proposed, included: introducing auction platforms to incentivise EU gas users to reduce demand; enhancing coordination among gas and electricity operators across Europe, including on peak-shaving industrial mechanisms; bringing down household electricity demand by setting cooling standards and controls; and harmonising emergency planning across the EU at the national and European level. “If these types of measures are not implemented now, Europe will be in an extremely vulnerable position and could well face much more drastic cuts and curtailments later on,” the IEA warned.

South Africa has quite a few competitive advantages that will serve it well in entering the green hydrogen manufacturing space, Sasol low-carbon energy solutions business developer Zanele Salman has said. She spoke during a Saldanha Bay Innovation Campus webinar, the third in a series that focuses on the energy transition landscape, on July 14. These advantages include South Africa having access to platinum as an enabler of hydrogen reactions and being otherwise naturally endowed with available land, and solar and wind resources; being well geographically placed, with many global trading partnerships already in place with countries desiring access to hydrogen; and having processing capabilities in the mining and industrial sectors already in place, including technical skills and experience. Sasol, for one, has experience spanning many years in producing grey hydrogen, which is a big know-how advantage, and chemicals, which also bodes well for developing a hydrogen economy. The company considers hydrogen a great opportunity for South Africa to grow economically and to create jobs. Not only is the country able to cater to international demand but it can also supply local companies that are looking to decarbonise and access green hydrogen for their operations. Sasol estimates the demand for sustainable fuels globally to be around 400-million tonnes a year currently, and the demand for sustainable steel to be at about 200-million tonnes a year. South Africa can also tap into the 670-million-tonne-a-year demand for sustainable ammonia, which is produced as a by-product of green hydrogen manufacturing. Advisory firm RSS Trade and Investments group CEO Ipeleng Selele said implementation is key - “we have been talking about the just energy transition a lot, which is normal, but now things need to start happening”. She urged stakeholders and government to take stock of the skills sets that the Southern African region has and start repurposing skills where necessary, especially in the coal regions. Selele also deemed it vital that public education be undertaken and stakeholders be kept up to speed. She pointed out an example: if port staff are not up to date on what is happening in the green hydrogen space, how should exports be expected to proceed? “If green hydrogen is meant to industrialise, where are industrialists at the discussion table? These discussions are often key elements missing in our approach,” she added. Selele believed a regional approach was key, whereby South Africa and Namibia, for example, work together on manufacturing and supplying hydrogen, given both countries' ambitions to this effect. Moreover, research institute Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies senior economist Gaylor Montmasson-Clair highlighted how South Africa was entering the just energy transition with inclusiveness top of mind, but with policies that are moving in multiple directions. He remarked, for instance, how the Presidential Climate Commission and other institutions were developing their own just transition frameworks, while the Minerals Council South Africa was also developing its own framework. All the panel members agreed that a collaborative approach was necessary to effectively implement a just transition – whatever the combination of energy sources turned out to be.

Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) director-general Jacob Mbele has confirmed that the Integrated Resource Plan of 2019 (IRP 2019) will continue to be implemented while it is reviewed, consulted and updated – a process that is set to continue well into 2023. Speaking during a dialogue on the energy transition hosted by the Presidential Climate Commission, Mbele argued that the IRP 2019, which is widely accepted to include assumptions that are out of date, was “not irrelevant” and that its implementation would thus proceed. “The process of updating the IRP does not place on hold the implementation of the much-needed capacity as projected in the IRP 2019. “We are therefore proceeding with the implementation and roll-out of the rest of the capacity in the IRP 2019,” he said during the virtual event, which took place against the backdrop of ongoing load-shedding. Eskom has indicated that as much as 6 000 MW of new capacity is needed to reduce the risk of rotational power cuts, as well as to provide it with the “headroom” needed to conduct maintenance across a neglected and undermaintained coal fleet that has become prone to unplanned breakdowns. Both Mbele and Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe have indicated previously that a Ministerial determination is being prepared for the residual 14 000 MW of renewable energy allocated for in the IRP 2019, but which is not yet catered for under existing Ministerial determinations. Such determinations remain a prerequisite for the initiation of procurement processes for additional generation capacity. Mbele reported that Eskom energy planners had been requested to conduct the power system modelling and analysis required for the update and that the department had also commissioned the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Electrical Power Research Institute to help with the review of key IRP assumptions, including those relating to the demand forecast and technology costs. He indicated that the review would also take account of South Africa's revised emission reduction pledge as outlined in the 2021 update to its Nationally Determined Contribution, which was improved, ahead of COP26, to between 420- and 350-million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030. The lower range of the offer is said to be in line with what would be required from South Africa to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 oC. Mbele refused to be drawn on a date for the publication of the updated IRP, saying only that it would “definitely not take the five years that it took to land the IRP 2019”. In a separate presentation, the DMRE's Thabang Audat said that the goal was to complete the update before the end of 2023. Audat reported that the process would involve three phases and that the first phase, which included an assessment of the current plan, was under way, with the demand assessment having already been completed. The second phase would focus on actions needed to close the supply/demand gap in the short term, while the third would focus on balancing supply and demand in the longer term, with the DMRE having already stated that the new IRP's time horizon would be extended beyond 2030. STACKED SERVICES Eskom's Ronald Marais indicated that the energy plan would need to take account of the fact that the energy services that were traditionally supplied as a bundled offering through conventional technologies such as coal, gas and nuclear would need to be catered for, procured and paid for as more variable renewable energy was introduced. Marais said there was no system requirement for so-called baseload plant, but that the services of peak capacity, dispatched ramping, synchronous power, frequency control and voltage management would still be required. Likening the electricity system to a bakery supplying cakes, Marais explained that a system based on conventional technologies used to supply ready-made cakes of different sizes in the form of baseload, mid-merit ...

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy reports that she has written to provincial environment MECs to enquire whether they require any assistance in processing environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for embedded-generation projects that could help relieve pressure on the country's load-shedding-prone grid. Speaking ahead of her department's Budget Vote, Creecy said her letter outlined the urgency of the projects, which are being pursued by miners and other energy-intensive businesses in line with a recent market reform allowing sub-100 MW projects to proceed without a licence. The processing of EIA applications has been identified as one of several factors standing in the way of some 58 such projects that have combined generation potential of more that 4 500 MW and an investment value of about R54-billion. A joint task team, involving government departments and agencies, the Minerals Council South Africa and the Energy Intensive Users Group is meeting weekly under the aegis of Operation Vulindlela to resolve obstacles at an individual project level, as well as to address remaining constraints at a systemic level. The Presidency's project management office head Rudi Dicks reported recently that the task team is working to shorten the timeframes for EIAs and water-use licences through the designation of embedded generation projects as Strategic Infrastructure Projects. Dicks also reported that dedicated capacity had been created withing Eskom to process grid-connection applications more quickly and that wheeling frameworks and tariffs were being finalised at the municipal level. Progress is also reportedly being made to simplify the National Energy Regulator of South Africa's registration process, including by addressing onerous requirements, such as the stipulation that a power purchase agreement be included at registration. “With regard to the EIA for the 100 MW projects, I have written to all the MECs and I have said to them that we can assist them to fast-track the EIAs or, if they are agreeable, we can actually take over the EIAs for these projects. “I'm waiting to hear what their preference is, but I have emphasised to them that these are extremely urgent projects,” Creecy said. She added that a one-size-fits-all approach was not necessary, as some of the provincial administrations were “quite speedy and efficient” and the department would, thus, target only those administrations that required additional support. AIR QUALITY PANEL Creecy also used her Budget Vote to confirm her decision to appoint a panel of six experts to provide advice with regards to appeals against various decisions by the department's National Air Quality Officer in relation to requests for the suspension and postponement of compliance with the Minimum Emission Standards (MES). Initially, she requested the Presidential Climate Commission to oversee the process, but the commission had indicated that it had insufficient capacity to fulfil the role. A notice had been Gazetted calling for nominations to the panel by May 26. Once assembled, Creecy expected the panel to hear evidence from various stakeholders, including Eskom, which has warned that some 16 000 MW of coal capacity would need to be shut immediately unless a postponement was granted. “In my view, it's necessary to air all of the evidence that would pertain to human health and environmental issues, but also . the economic implications of the emitter having to take facilities offline. “I think it's important that we hear all of that evidence and we try to work out what would be the best solution because this is obviously an area where there has been a lot of divergent opinions between different interest groups in our society.” She acknowledged, though, that South Africa continued to face severe air pollution in the three highly industrialised priority areas of the Vaal Triangle, Highveld and the Waterberg-Bojanala areas. “The regulations for implementing and enforcin...

The CEOs of three leading South African development finance institutions (DFIs) have established a collaborative platform, known as the DFI CEOs Forum, that aims to support the financing of the country's just transition to a low-carbon economy and climate resilient society by 2050. Led by Development Bank of Southern Africa CEO Patrick Dlamini, Industrial Development Corporation CEO TP Nchocho and National Empowerment Fund CEO Philisiwe Mthethwa, the forum will seek to locate, define and execute just transition financing. It is also open to all public national and provincial funds, DFIs and fund managers in South Africa. A DFI Just Transition Task Team, made up of executives from each organisation, will be created to coordinate work programmes on behalf of the forum and the initial three workstreams include: Workstream 1, which will define the strategic thrust of South African DFIs and their role in South Africa's decarbonisation; Workstream 2, which will study the financial impacts and opportunities associated with the transition and map the options for mobilising climate finance; and Workstream 3, which will assess and outline DFI opportunities in advancing or participating in the carbon-credit market. The forum will be guided by the Just Transition Framework being finalised by the Presidential Climate Commission and the individual DFIs will act both collectively and individually, in line with their core mandates, to support South Africa's just transition. The DFIs indicated that the decarbonisation of the electricity system will be an immediate priority, with a focus on decommissioning and repurposing Eskom's coal-fired power stations, the upgrading and extending the grid, and a rapid ramp-up of new renewable projects. “Early scoping of technology and project pathways as well as financing the development of a hydrogen production sector is essential to achieve the decarbonisation of the petrochemical sector. “Support for a transformation of the motor and transport sector towards electric vehicles, is also important,” the CEOs noted in a joint statement. The statement also underlined the importance of decarbonisation for South Africa's agriculture, manufacturing and mining exports, the competitiveness of which would increasingly depend on them securing low-carbon energy inputs. The DFI CEOs Forum also stressed the importance of developing mechanisms, institutional capacity, and governance frameworks to finance both green-economy investments and the social aspects of th transition. “In this regard, justice for workers and communities who are negatively impacted by the phase-down of the coal value chain must be ensured.” The forum's creation comes as South Africa is gearing up to negotiate the terms and conditions of an $8.5-billion climate finance offer made by the European Union, France, Germany, the UK and the US on the side-lines of the COP26 climate talks, in Glasgow, Scotland. Presidential Climate Finance Task Team head Daniel Mminele, who will play a central role in the negotiations, has indicated that South Africa aims to pursue a financing solution that embraces a “different paradigm” with regard to the allocation of risk, as well as return expectations and investment horizons. Mminele has also stressed that any debt should be extended on terms that were more attractive than could be secured in the capital markets and should not include unduly onerous reporting requirements.

The ratio between green energy and brown energy in South Africa needs to move very rapidly in favour of green energy, says Climate Adaptation Lead to the South African Presidential Climate Commission and Institute for Security Studies Africa senior research associate Dhesigen Naidoo. Naidoo was speaking during a Canada-hosted webinar organised by Fasken and covered by Mining Weekly. Also taking part in the webinar on the topic of the transition from brown to green energy and its impact on the South African mining industry were Johannesburg partner and moderator Mmaphuti Morolong, a member of Fasken's global mining group, Department of Mineral Resources and Energy director-general Advocate Thabo Mokoena, Nedbank energy finance principal Sanjeev Mungroo and Fasken Johannesburg partner Francois Joubert. Naidoo drew attention to the stark current impact of climate change on the world outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) working group. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) He spoke of it being explicit that more the 3.6-billion people in the world today, including many in South Africa and certainly many more in the Southern African region, had already been adversely affected by climate change, and that the Secretary General of the UN talked about the IPCC report as being an atlas of human suffering. “We cannot ignore this,” said Naidoo. Differentiated responsibility was not only a global phenomenon, but also a regional phenomenon, he added in highlighting the comparison between South Africa and neighbouring countries, and the relative impact of greenhouse-gas emissions of each of these countries on climate change in the region. “In fact, it's fair to say that the loss and damage discussions are going to be very difficult. A lot depends on how fast the world moves because that will have implications for where South Africa and countries like South Africa see themselves. “If you look at the ambitious targets of very high emitters in the developing world, like China and India, they are giving us a strong indication of where some of those players are going, and we should not be too far behind. “The issue of the just transition is a very important one. It is a recognition that the South African economy by and large operates on the mineral energy nexus. We can philosophise about it if we want to, but that is the grim reality. “It is the core of our economy, it is the core of our financial system, it is a very important mechanism for livelihoods for a fair number of people,” said Naidoo. “The key point I want to make is that we need to move towards the diversification of energy very rapidly. This is not the same as giving up on brown energy altogether but the ratio between green energy and brown energy needs to move very rapidly in favour of green energy. “But recognising all of this, the Presidential Climate Commission is investing in the just transition framework which the Department of Minerals and Energy (DMRE) is taking care of but there's a much bigger transition that needs to be engaged around the socioeconomic movement and as we speak, the first of the consultation workshops on that just transition is happening in eMalahleni today, because the reality is that people are in a particular circumstance. “In our quest to move towards decarbonisation, we can't deliver a double whammy, particularly to the poor and vulnerable in those places. “The concept of restorative justice is a very strong prevailing factor in that engagement and the idea is to develop either a formula or a series of formulas and interventions that organise for those people who are currently highly dependent on the fossil fuel value chain, and the coal value chain in particular, to not be worse off in the future than they are now, that they must be a transitionary element around it, including things such as skills and reorientation and movement to green industries, reorganising for the most arable agricultural land in Mpumalanga to ...

South Africa is at COP26 to discuss how to avoid a climate disaster, this is the plan.  The Presidential Climate Commission was tasked to both move South Africa towards a low carbon economy while managing the impact from potential disruption to jobs.  The idea of a just transition looks to both deal with how to lower our CO2 emissions and give those employed and dependent on those industries to maintain or ideally improve on the current conditions. While the focus is on the energy sector, carbon emissions include agriculture, manufacturing, mining and transport.  The plan would need to address emissions across the board to achieve the first of the two key jargon terms. Net-zero and zero-carbon. In trying to achieve this the measures may use mitigation or adaptation. The time frame to achieve the goal is 2050. That is 29 years from now, for most South Africans that is longer than their lifetimes. For those that are older it is about the time since South Africa has been a democracy. If you consider what we have managed to achieve since then you would either be optimistic or very doubtful we have the time or even the political will or ability to achieve it. Here is a brief explanation of each.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clement Manyathela speaks to Cripian Olver, Author and Executive Director, Presidential Climate Commission about the political parties coalition talks in big metros. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From a huge leak of documents showing how countries are trying to change a crucial scientific report on how to tackle climate change. The leak reveals Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia are among countries asking the UN to play down the need to move rapidly away from fossil fuels. It also shows some wealthy nations are questioning paying more to poorer states to move to greener technologies. This ""lobbying"" raises questions for the COP26 climate summit in November. Especially in light of the concern raised by the Presidential Climate Commission in conditionalities attached to concessional funding following the meeting with the climate envoys recently. To put things into perspective Michael Avery is joined by Nesan Nair, senior portfolio manager at Sasfin; Raymond Parsons, professor in the School of Business and Governance at Northwest University & Richard Calland, associate professor in public law at the University of Cape Town and a founding partner of the Paternoster Group.