- The Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) has commended the government for its decisive actions to secure South Africa’s energy future and advance its global climate commitments.
- This follows the recent approval and public release of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and the updated Nationally Determined Contributions for 2035 (NDCs), which have been submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change under the Paris Agreement.
According to the PCC, the two policy announcements represent crucial steps in balancing the country’s energy needs with the urgent global effort to combat climate change, while ensuring a people-centred just transition. The Commission emphasised that the power sector remains central to reducing economy-wide emissions, expanding green industrialisation, and safeguarding South Africa’s competitiveness in a decarbonising global economy.
The PCC views the IRP as a vital policy instrument for the electricity sector, setting out current and future generation capacities as well as the necessary investments to meet growing energy demand. Given the plan’s impact on national emissions, the Commission welcomed its commitment to expanding renewable energy. It further urged alignment between electricity policy and climate goals — including coherence among the NDC emissions targets, the IRP, and sectoral emission targets outlined in the Climate Change Act, the National Development Plan, and the Just Transition Framework.
PCC Executive Director Dorah Modise called for stronger policy coherence to attract the investments required under South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan. She highlighted the need to integrate renewable energy and modernise infrastructure, set clear decarbonisation targets in industrial master plans, plan inclusively for the phase-down of coal, and embed climate finance into national budgeting processes.
Modise also appealed for greater public consultation in shaping South Africa’s future energy and emissions policies, ensuring that all social partners — including vulnerable and marginalised communities — have a voice in the process.
Looking ahead to COP30 in Brazil, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol and the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, the PCC urged South Africa to demonstrate global leadership in advancing climate action. The Commission expressed its support for the national delegation to COP30, led by Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dr Dion George, and endorsed his commitment to champion efforts to improve access to finance for developing nations to address mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage.
The PCC further called on South Africa’s upcoming G20 Presidency and participating heads of state to use the Global Leader Summit, to be hosted locally later this month, as an opportunity to show bold leadership and promote a more sustainable, inclusive, and just global order.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
