- South Africa’s plans to extend the closing of eight coal power plants amid the power crisis will delay the pledge to cut emissions by 2030.
- The Environment Ministry, which endorses climate targets, said it was too early to conclude that 2030 targets would be missed.
Three senior government officials have confirmed South Africa will miss its binding 2030 carbon emissions targets under the Paris Climate Agreement. The country plans to run eight coal-fired power plants longer than planned. South Africa is the world’s 11th biggest greenhouse gas emitter and has one of the world’s highest per capita emissions.
It had committed under the Paris Climate Accords – a legally binding treaty on climate change to cut emissions to between 350 and 420 million tonnes by 2030. South Africa has committed to net zero emissions by 2050. To achieve this, it planned to decommission eight coal-fired power plants, six by 2030 and the remaining by 2034, as it makes up half of its emissions. However, switching to a renewable energy policy has been hampered by bureaucratic delays. An official from power utility Eskom also confirmed the target would be missed.
Also, the Environment Ministry, which endorses climate targets, said the country remained committed to achieving its Paris Agreement commitments and that it was too early to conclude that 2030 targets would be missed. The ministry will submit its latest greenhouse gas inventory report to the United Nations before the COP28 summit, which starts later this month.
South Africa’s decision comes as several rich countries and companies are backtracking on climate pledges. Also, the United Nations said fossil fuel output by 2030 will be more than double levels consistent with the 2015 Paris climate goals. According to Crispian Olver, Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC), “It is tough in the middle of a power crisis to be taking working coal-fired plants off the grid.” He urges South Africa to shelve the idea until the crisis is solved.
Moreover, Climate Action Tracker (CAT), an independent body tracking progress towards the Paris Agreement, will publish an assessment of countries’ climate goals at COP28. Catrina Godinho, Climate Specialist at the World Bank and a CAT member added that missing emission targets “not only contribute to global climate change, they also will negatively affect South Africans who live in areas with high pollution from coal plants.”