{"id":51242,"date":"2024-05-23T13:58:59","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T12:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=51242"},"modified":"2024-05-29T14:33:55","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T13:33:55","slug":"as-south-africa-heads-to-the-polls-voters-await-stalled-just-energy-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/05\/23\/as-south-africa-heads-to-the-polls-voters-await-stalled-just-energy-transition\/","title":{"rendered":"As South Africa heads to the polls, voters await stalled “just energy\u00a0transition”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two and a half years ago, at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, South Africa signed<\/a> a first-of-its-kind agreement with wealthy nations to collaborate on rolling out clean energy to replace coal in a socially fair manner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

President Cyril Ramaphosa described<\/a> the $8.5 billion “Just Energy Transition Partnership” (JETP) as a “watershed moment” – and then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it a “game-changing partnership”.<\/p>\n

But, as South Africa prepares to head to the polls next Wednesday in an election that could force Ramaphosa’s ruling party to share power for the first time since apartheid ended, there is still little to show for the energy transition deal on the ground.<\/p>\n

Africa must<\/strong> reap the benefits of its energy transition minerals<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Crispian Olver, executive director of the Presidential Climate Commission which is advising the government on the JETP, told Climate Home: <\/span>\u201cThis is a bit like trying to turn a big container-ship – it\u2019s slow to shift onto a new path, but once it\u2019s on that new course, things will start to move faster.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As of last November, just $308 million of grant-funded projects under the JETP had reached the implementation phase, government data shows<\/a>. Of this, just $30m was categorised as spending on the just transition in the coal-dependent Mpumalanga province.<\/span><\/p>\n