Page 11 - DMEA Week 05 2023

DMEA ENERGY TRANSITION DMEA

US urges South Africa to

maintain transition momentum

SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH Africa needs to act fast if it is to keep stages.”
momentum on an energy transition programme According to Justin Sylvester, a programme
backed by the US and other countries, according officer with the Ford Foundation, donors were
to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. looking for effective monitoring of programmes
Yellen said that the US was committed to and representation of affected communities. The
ensuring South Africa’s transition to renewable foundation was concerned about the impact of
energy did not leave its workers behind, Reuters extensive layoffs in a country with a history of
reported. She appealed to philanthropists and femicide and domestic violence, he told Reuters.
the private sector to step up their support after At the meeting in Emalahleni, Yellen called
visiting the coal-mining province of Mpuma- anti-corruption a “critical” priority for South
langa on January 27. Africa, adding that US officials had discussed the
Yellen was speaking to donor groups backing issue in great detail with South African officials,
the nearly $100bn project aimed at supporting and were looking to help Pretoria strengthen its
South Africa’s gradual phasing out of fossil fuels. rules and enforcement.
The country is the world’s 14th biggest carbon “It’s really critical to address corruption in
dioxide (CO2) emitter, three places ahead of the order to have an effective government that South
UK, an economy seven and a half times the size, Africans can have confidence in, and it’s a critical
according to data from the Global Carbon Atlas. part of the business environment,” she was cited
The meeting at a US-funded facility in Ema- by Reuters as saying.
lahleni local municipality where women are Yellen appealed to donors to extend support
being trained for jobs in renewable energy was for the JETP programme as “the transition is
also attended by local and provincial officials. already at hand and the needs are urgent”.
“We must demonstrate quickly that these South Africa’s plan includes retraining and
coal communities, which are already struggling reskilling with cash payments to support dis-
with unemployment, poverty and the health placed workers, reported Reuters.
impacts of coal mining and emissions, will not The plan calls for redevelopment of former
be left behind in the context of an energy shift coal mines and power plants as clean energy pro-
that benefits other regions,” she was quoted by duction sites and investment in roads, rail, ports
Reuters as saying. and digital infrastructure.
Yellen was wrapping up a three-country However, South African President Cyril
visit to Africa, with stops in Senegal and Zam- Ramaphosa’s plan has divided the governing
bia, that was aimed at deepening US economic African National Congress (ANC), said the press
ties with the continent and countering China’s agency.
long-standing dominance of trade and lending Union leaders allied to the party fear exten-
with many African countries, said the news sive job losses in the coal belt, which they doubt
agency. the renewables business will be able to fill.
The Treasury Secretary commended the US, Yellen affirmed her country’s support for
France, Germany, the UK and the EU for back- the programme, saying the US had earmarked
ing South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Plan $1bn for it and President Joe Biden pledged an
(JETP) with a combined $8.5mn to accelerate additional $45mn in December to demonstrate
the shift from coal. the US’ “firm” commitment to a just energy
Yellen called the funding a “substantial down transition.
payment” designed to mobilise additional According to the US Ambassador to South
money and expressed hope that Washington’s Africa, Reuben Brigety, the Treasury Secretary
focus on a just energy transition would under- had a “frank” exchange of views with both Rama-
pin donor interest in backing the nearly $100bn phosa and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, a
project. vocal defender of South Africa’s coal mines and
“An energy transition that is not just will power stations, about the partnership.
simply not work,” she said. “Equally impor- The parties agreed on the need to transition
tant, however, is the imperative to seize the new to a low-carbon economy, but raised questions
opportunities that the transition will offer, keep- about how they could get there and on what
ing a worker-centred perspective in mind at all timetable, Brigety said.™

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