AfrElec: South Africa approves $8.5bn decarbonisation plan

South Africa’s cabinet has approved a $8.5bn investment plan to help the country migrate from the use of coal for energy to renewables such as green hydrogen, News 24 reported. 

The package from the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), comprising the US, UK, France, Germany and European Union as well as South Africa, will be presented at the Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in Egypt in November 2022. The five parties originally committed to supporting Africa’s number one carbon emitter at COP26 in Scotland in 2021.

In recent months, a team led by the former deputy governor of South Africa's central bank, Daniel Mminele, has been working to ensure that the support, which is in form of concessional loans and grants, does not worsen the country’s debt. 

“The investment plan, once launched at COP27, will be released for public comment this year,” said Barbara Creecy, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs. “We are urging that you look at it, understand it and see how it lays out the vision for ways we want to support the transition for these three sectors.”