South Africa has decided at the highest political level to create a low carbon economy, Yale e360 correspondent Adam Welz reports from Cape Town.
“We are not going to be pushed back by any special interests or climate change denialists,” said Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk at a Monday press briefing. A Cabinet-level decision had been taken to aggressively expand renewable and nuclear power generation and to ramp up energy efficiency targets. Van Schalkwyk said he foresaw South Africa’s overall carbon emissions unavoidably rising by about 20 percent until about 2025, after which they would begin a steady decline. This announcement is significant because South Africa generates about 90 percent of its electricity from coal, has some of the world’s largest proven coal reserves, and has long promoted itself as a destination for energy-intensive industry. Van Schalkwyk said the nation would soon begin ramping up carbon taxes and possibly introduce a cap-and-trade system.
Coal-rich South Africa Announces Plans to Reduce Emissions
More From E360
-
Climate
Scientists Are Trying to Coax the Ocean to Absorb More CO2
-
INTERVIEW
Marina Silva on Brazil’s Fight to Turn the Tide on Deforestation
-
Solutions
Solomon Islands Tribes Sell Carbon Credits, Not Their Trees
-
INTERVIEW
With Sea Turtles in Peril, a Call for New Strategies to Save Them
-
RIVERS
Jared Kushner Has Big Plans for Delta of Europe’s Last Wild River
-
Energy
A Nuclear Power Revival Is Sparking a Surge in Uranium Mining
-
OPINION
Despite Official Vote, the Evidence of the Anthropocene Is Clear
-
INTERVIEW
At 11,500 Feet, a ‘Climate Fast’ to Save the Melting Himalaya
-
Oceans
Octopuses Are Highly Intelligent. Should They Be Farmed for Food?
-
Climate
Nations Are Undercounting Emissions, Putting UN Goals at Risk
-
Solutions
As Carbon Air Capture Ramps Up, Major Hurdles Remain
-
ANALYSIS
How China Became the World’s Leader on Renewable Energy