Globally, more than 46 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases are emitted each year — 80% of it from the combustion of fossil fuels, according to the UK's Energy Transitions Commission. We have less than 30 years to bring that down to zero if we are to avoid a climate catastrophe.
Eskom is the 12th-largest carbon emitter in the world, which makes the transition from coal to clean sources of energy a no-brainer.
Ageing power stations, lack of maintenance and rampant corruption have brought the power utility to its knees, and it now has no money to transition to greener energy. But COP26, which opens in Glasgow today, holds out the prospect of developed nations helping poorer countries make the transition.
This [Eskom] partnership could become a template in how to support the just transition around the globe
— European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen
Eskom is using the opportunity to sign a $30bn (R460bn) concessional loan with the UK, US, France and Germany for the transition. The deal, according to the Financial Times, is the first of its kind where richer countries provide financial and technical support for a developing world polluter to accelerate the shift to renewables. “This partnership could become a template in how to support the just transition around the globe with sponsoring countries and countries that have to move faster in the just transition,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told the newspaper.
This is encouraging. Climate change — like the Covid pandemic — is a global issue and no-one can be safe if we are not all safe. We should bear in mind that such lofty sentiments are easy to express but rich nations have not always taken them to heart — witness the hoarding of vaccines by wealthy nations while poorer ones clamour for them. The pandemic has also ravaged the economies of developing nations, making them less able to invest in energy transition.
The developed world emits by far the most greenhouse gases, but the effects are felt more acutely by nations unable to mitigate the consequences of climate change. COP26 represents an opportunity to hit the reset button.
G20 countries meeting in Rome on the eve of COP26 have drafted a final communique that pledges to step up efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C, a level scientists deem necessary to avoid devastating new climate patterns. The G20 nations account for 80% of greenhouse gas emissions, so this is an important pledge. COP26 cannot become another talk shop.
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