South Africa finalizes draft investment plan for green transition

JOHANNESBURG, July 21 — South Africa’s mobilizer for financing said Thursday it is finalizing the first draft of an investment plan to guide the use of funds offered by Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), a mechanism that finances a transition from coal to renewables in the country.
Under JETP, South Africa and its partners including France, Germany, Britain, the United States and the European Union have made “significant progress” in developing a comprehensive investment plan since their last engagement in June, and have discussed the first draft, which is being finalized by the Presidential Climate Finance Task Team, head of the task team Daniel Mminele told a media briefing virtually.
After the South African government announced on Nov. 2 last year the partnership to support a transition to a low carbon economy and a climate-resilient society in the country, partner countries offered to mobilize an initial 8.5 billion U.S. dollars over the next three to five years through a range of instruments, including grants and concessional finance, for the implementation of South Africa’s revised climate change mitigation targets.
The partnership is working with the JETP Secretariat and aims to complete the investment plan this October, before the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), said Mminele.
The task team will consult with key stakeholders, from both the public and private sectors, on the investment plan during the next two months, including through working groups in each of the priority areas, he added.
The partners under JETP also discussed the need to leverage extra funding from other partners and philanthropies that are interested in supporting the green transition of South Africa, and it is likely to bring in additional members and commitments. (Xinhua)