- South Africa says it won’t rush its coal exit.
- The country wants a just transition with financing access to prevent the marginalisation of disadvantaged communities.
- over 40 countries and financing institutions have pledged to stop financing coal.
South Africa’s Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister, Barbara Creecy, has stated that the country will not support a recent pledge to end coal financing by 2030 for developed economies and 2040 for developing economies. Creecy stated: “South Africa has not signed the move away from coal pledge. Our position in negotiations is that any decision needs to be made in the process of formal negotiations through the convention. And I think that we would be worried about situations where there’s an increase in the tendency to set up platforms and pledges that are outside of the negotiation process. We think that it disadvantages developing countries,” Creecy said.
At COP26, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that the country would support a just transition to a low carbon economy and a climate-resilient society. Minister Creecy reiterated this, saying that the country plans to emphasise a just transition where its is able to access the financing needed to ensure that the move away from coal does not further marginalise disadvantaged communities. A rus to exit coal would lead to stranded assets and infrastructure with the main loosers being the workers and communities the minister added.