- On Friday, 4 November, President Cyril Ramaphosa presented South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) investment plan to the International Partners Group (IPG), which has pledged $8.5 billion to facilitate South Africa’s just energy transition.
- Members of the Fair Finance Coalition of Southern Africa, including 350Africa.org, The African Climate Reality Project (ACRP) and the Center for Environmental Rights, welcome the disclosure of the investment plan but urge the government to be more transparent and inclusive in the ongoing negotiations for much-needed climate finance.
Since the announcement of the JETP deal last year at COP26, the coalition has been frustrated by the lack of publicly available information on the JETP. With the President only divulging the details of the deal just two days before COP27, where the plan was presented to the IPG, civil society was not adequately included and consulted.
On the surface, it is apparent that the type of financing that the IPG is offering is problematic; members of the FFCSA are concerned about the additional debt burden occasioned by the $8.5 billion offer, which primarily takes the form of loans. The President spoke about the role of public finance institutions (PFIs) in climate finance and the need for these institutions to reform in order to mobilize financing at scale and offer a variety of instruments suited to the needs of recipient nations. His remarks come at a time when the coalition is engaging PFIs in a bid to enhance transparency and accountability and strengthen their climate response policy ambitions. The FFCSA will launch a policy assessment of six African PFIs at COP27, revealing how transparent their policies are and whether they align with global climate ambitions.
Alia Kajee, public finance campaigner for 350Africa.org, said, “Civil society continues to demand that climate finance for South Africa does not result in additional debt. Civil society can support the JETP process if it is transparent, inclusive and committed to ensuring that the people are at the centre of the just transition.”
Amy Giliam Thorp, branch manager for ACRP, said, “As the coalition, we are calling for climate finance that is fair, transparent, and inclusive, without locking us into further debt. Given their developmental mandates, PFIs have an important role and obligation to finance a just and equitable society. As the findings from our policy assessment show, PFIs in Southern Africa, like the AfDB, have much work to do to ensure transparent public finance that helps address the climate crisis.”
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
