South Africa's empty promise...

South Africa Energy Promise

Last week, South Africa became the star of Copenhagen when it announced its ambitious plans to curb its growth in carbon emissions by 34 percent by 2020.

But certain activity planned for the country contradicts this announcement, and South Africa has come under fierce criticism from environmental groups that claim the carbon cutting plan is "an absolute non-starter".

With the recently approved monetary infusion that could be worth almost US$5 billion from the World Bank, state-owned utility Eskom plans more coal-fired plants which would negate this willingness to lower emissions. Eskom said some of the cash would be used to finance alternative energy projects including wind and solar power, while around half of the infusion could go towards improving coal transportation.

But in a well-timed move, South Africa, responsible for half of the continent's greenhouse gas emissions, announced a reduction of CO2 emission growth - down 34 percent from business as usual in 2020 and 42 percent by 2025. The announcement, released the day before the start of the UN Climate Change Conference, predicts a decline in emissions in 2035.

Anticipation of criticism

A statement from the President's office said: "As such, South Africa, being a responsible global citizen and in line with its obligations under article 4.1 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) acknowledges its responsibilities to undertake national action that will contribute to the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

But it wasn't as clear cut as it looked, with conditions added almost in anticipation of criticism.

"It is not a pledge," South Africa's top negotiator Joanne Yawitch told TerraViva.

"The reduction depends on whether developed countries put a fair and equitable deal on the table in Copenhagen, particularly where it comes to financial support for mitigation measures."

According to Yawitch the savings are calculated on the basis of clean technology schemes to mitigate emissions. "We want to put up wind farms and relieve the transport sector with the Rea Vaya (isiZulu slang for 'we are going') bus rapid transport system. We plan to fit a million solar geysers in households," she said.

But this has been countered by environmental groups, including Ferrial Adam of Earthlife Africa who said: "12 months into the program only 800 [solar geysers] were installed. They have announced this but there is no plan of action, only a lot of voluntary measures that go nowhere. The roll-out of renewable energy is just so slow."

Distressing emptiness

But the main problem for environmentalists has been Eksom. The energy giant is responsible for 40 percent of the country's emissions and, with a further US$2.5 billion secured from the SA government on top of the US$5 billion arriving from the World Bank, it hopes to construct the world's third and fourth largest coal-fired plants within a decade.

By taking a closer look at a promise made by a country not even billed as a major player at Copenhagen, we can see a distressing emptiness which we can only hope is not echoed in the pledges of other nations.

With only four days left until Copenhagen draws to a close, it is looking more and more unlikely that a comprehensive deal on climate change will be reached.

Related Articles:

SA wind investments paying off | 40MW project for SA | SA need 25% renewable energy target

Like this article? Get the RSS feed: