Billions in aid for South Africa to move away from coal
At the World Climate Conference, leading industrialized countries pledged billions in aid to South Africa to move away from coal.
At the world climate conference in Egypt, Germany and other industrialized countries jointly pledged billions in aid to South Africa for moving away from coal.
The aid of 8.5 billion dollars (almost 8.5 billion euros) planned by Germany, Great Britain, France, the European Union and the USA is to be used, among other things, for the decommissioning of coal-fired power plants and the promotion of renewable energies, it said in a statement released in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Germany pledges more than one billion euros
The industrialized countries approved the South African plan to move away from coal. The support program will help “clean energy thrive in South Africa’s economy,” US President Joe Biden was quoted as saying in the statement.
According to the Federal Development Ministry in Berlin, Germany has already provided 700 million euros for South Africa’s exit from climate-damaging coal and has pledged a further 320 million euros in recently concluded negotiations.
Scholz and Ramaphosa take stock
According to the information, Germany and South Africa are cooperating, among other things, in the construction of solar and wind power plants and in lines for the transmission of green electricity. These investments should create new jobs, especially in the coal regions. Germany also supports programs for the retraining of former coal workers and for training in the professions urgently needed in the energy transition.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) took stock of the energy transition partnership with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday while attending the COP27 UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh. French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen and US climate commissioner John Kerry also took part.
Partnership launched in Glasgow
South Africa – the largest economy on the African continent – has been dependent on coal for 80 percent of its electricity generation. Developed countries’ partnership with South Africa on moving away from coal is one of the collaborations known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership, or JETP for short.
The JETP was launched last year at the UN climate conference in Glasgow to enable a faster and socially just transition of developing and emerging countries to a climate-friendly economy.
