South Africa commits to reduce carbon emissions after USD 8.5b foreign financing

South African has signed a historic international partnership which will facilitate funding of USD 8.5 billion from France, Germany, the UK, the US and the European Union over the next three to five years to help the African country transition to a low-carbon economy.

''Climate change is an existential challenge that confronts us all, and South Africa is committed to playing its part in reducing global emissions. The partnership that we have established today is a watershed moment not only for our own just transition, but for the world as a whole,'' President Cyril Ramaphosa said.

''It is proof that we can take ambitious climate action while increasing our energy security, creating jobs and harnessing new opportunities for investment, with support from developed economies," he added.

In preparation for COP26 climate summit, South Africa had submitted a revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to reduce domestic carbon emissions to within a target range for emissions of between 420 CO2-eq and 350 CO2-eq by 2030.

''This revised target is compatible with the ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement and represents our country's best effort to confront climate change, which will have a devastating impact on sub-Saharan Africa without large-scale mitigation and adaptation efforts," the Presidency said in a media statement this week.

The funds will be used to accelerate investment in renewable energy and the development of new sectors such as electric vehicles and green hydrogen.

''This will provide a significant boost to investment and growth while ensuring (that national state-owned electricity supplier) Eskom can access resources to finance repurposing of coal fired power-stations due for decommissioning over the next 15 years.

''Bold and ambitious actions are required from all countries to confront climate change and South Africa has consistently argued that developed economies must support a just transition in developing economies," the statement said.

A joint declaration at COP-26 by the Governments of South Africa, the UK, the US, France and Germany acknowledged the positive contribution of South Africa in working towards mitigating against climate change despite the many challenges that it faced of poverty, inequality and unemployment, which have been exacerbated by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)