seeking to alter the terms of a landmark agreement under which it promised to cut its reliance on coal in exchange for access to financing.
The failure of a G20 nation to live up to its commitments would represent a blow to a $40-billion programme In response to a request for comment, Daniel Morris, clean energy lead at CIF, confirmed that South Africa is currently “updating its investment plan”. CIF expects the government to provide an update by the spring, he said.The development underscores just how hard it is for developing nations such as South Africa, which relies on coal for about 80% of its electricity, to switch to cleaner energy sources.
JETP commitments have in part been complicated by South Africa’s 29 May election, the most tightly contested since the end of apartheid in 1994. Environment minister Barbara Creecy, a key proponent of the JETP programme, will instead oversee transport, with environmental matters handed over to a member of a separate party within the country’s first coalition government in three decades.