President Cyril Ramaphosa has criticised industrialized countries for failure to implement the promises they made at the climate summit COP21 in Paris in 2015.
Ramaphosa says South Africa needs a lot more funding to achieve its climate goals, than what is offered through the Just Energy Transition Partnership.
According to the President, South Africa requires R1.5 trillion for a term of five years and going forward, this will increase.
As Ramaphosa prepares to attend the upcoming COP27 in Egypt, he says this will be amongst the issues he will raise on behalf of South Africa.
President Ramaphosa will take a 163 page Just Transition investment plan to international funders at COP27 in Egypt next week.
The five-year plan aims to move the country from the current high carbon emissions from electricity generation to cleaner sources of energy.
It also seeks to close the gap in the current electricity deficit.
The President will have to convince investors that the country has what takes to deliver on its Just Energy Transition Plan.
South Africa has been battling to deal with its energy crisis, despite billions of rands spent on improving its power generation capacity.
“We face a shortfall in electricity supply, which has caused our economy immense damage and destroyed jobs and livelihoods. We face unacceptable levels of poverty, unemployment and inequality, which strain the fabric of our society. And we face the critical and urgent threat of climate change, the effects of which we are already experiencing in South Africa and around the world,” explains President Ramaphosa.
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He says the country needs more money than what’s been given and this will be top of his agenda at COP27 in Egypt.
“While the initial funding committed by partner countries will play an important catalytic role, it is not sufficient to match the scale of our ambition. Supporting a just transition requires adequate financial support that must include a significantly larger grant funding component to ensure the implementation of active labour market policies, reskilling and upskilling as well as the creation of new industries on a considerable scale,” he adds.
The President says South Africa’s energy transition plan is like no other and will leave no one behind.
He also criticized developed countries for the empty promises they made at the summit held in Paris.
Next week, Ramaphosa will join other heads of state and governments in Egypt for the summit of world leaders.
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