- South Africa requires an initial funding of about R1.5 trillion to transition to a low carbon and climate-resilient society.
- The initial IPG offer of US$8.5 billion comprises grants, concessional and commercial loans, and guarantee instruments and is a catalytic contribution towards addressing the JET IP priorities.
The Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) Commissioner, Joanne Yawitch, while Addressing a hybrid Special Sitting on Understanding the contents of South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP) on Thursday, said, “South Africa requires an initial funding of about R1.5 trillion to transition to a low carbon and climate-resilient society for the five years 2023-2027”. Yawitch stressed that achieving the JET IP outcomes depends on the scale and nature of financial support South Africa can secure from the international community to complement domestic resources.
In line with South Africa’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to reduce the country’s emissions to within a range of 420-350 megatons carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2-eq) by 2030 lodged with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) before its 26th Conference of the Parties (COP 26) in Glasgow in November 2021. Also, South Africa’s long-term Low-Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS) was submitted to the UNFCCC in 2020. The IPG funds will be channelled towards the electricity sector to decommission coal plants, expand and strengthen the transmission grid and distribution infrastructure, support economic diversification in affected coal mining areas, and deploy renewable energy.
Yawitch added, “At the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP) in 2021, a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) was forged with France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States (forming the International Partners Group [IPG]) in which the IPG undertook to mobilise US$8.5 billion (~ ZAR 128 billion) over five years to support South Africa’s Just Energy Transition. The initial IPG offer of US$8.5 billion comprises grants, concessional and commercial loans, and guarantee instruments and is a catalytic contribution towards addressing the JET IP priorities”.