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John Kerry, the US’s special presidential envoy for climate, said progress in completing an $8.5 billion (R150 billion) financing deal to help South Africa shift to cleaner energy is dependent on that country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa.
The funding to reduce South Africa’s use of coal was pledged by the US, UK, France, Germany and the European Union at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last year. It is dependent on South Africa producing an investment plan that would need to be agreed to by the partners.
“It depends on President Ramaphosa, we’re waiting for the South African government to put some things on the table,” Kerry said in an interview at an environment ministers conference in Dakar, Senegal, on Thursday. “It would be great to have it done by” COP27 in Egypt in November, he said. “That’s what I am hoping but I’m not saying we will.”
Under the agreement, South Africa would use the money to decommission coal-fired plants, partially replace them with cleaner energy, expand its transmission grid and compensate coal-dependent communities. The world’s 13th-biggest source of greenhouse gases is also pushing for financing to help it kick-start green hydrogen and electric-vehicle industries.
The climate-deal funding is expected to come in the form of concessional loans and grants.
