Health impacts of Eskomʼs non-compliance with minimum emissions standards

The report finds that Eskom's current retrofit plan is insufficient to address sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions, leading to significant projected mortality and economic losses. Full compliance with the MES by 2025 would avoid approximately 2,300 deaths and R42 billion in economic costs annually. The most stringent scenario, applying Best Available Technology (BAT), would reduce health impacts by over 90% by 2031 compared to the current plan.

• Under Eskom's current planned retirement and retrofit schedule, emissions from its power plants are projected to cause 79,500 air pollution-related deaths from 2025 until the plants reach their end-of-life.
• Full compliance with the Minimum Emissions Standards (MES) for plants operating beyond 2030 would prevent an estimated 2,300 deaths and R42 billion (USD 2.9 billion) in economic costs every year starting in 2025.
• Eskom's retrofit plan is deemed largely ineffective for health benefits because it fails to adequately address SO2 emissions, realizing only one quarter of the benefits that full MES compliance would provide.
• Cumulative health benefits of MES compliance until the end-of-life of the fleet include avoiding 34,400 deaths, 140,000 asthma emergency room visits, 5,900 new childhood asthma cases, 57,000 preterm births, 50,000 years lived with disability, and 35 million days of work absence, with total economic costs avoided at R620 billion.
• Implementing Best Available Technology (BAT) by 2030 instead of the current MES would result in the highest health gains, avoiding 57,000 deaths and R1,000 billion in economic costs compared to the Eskom plan.
• Full MES compliance would significantly reduce emissions of SO2 by 60%, particulate matter (PM) by 50%, nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 20%, and mercury (Hg) by 40% compared to a no-improvement scenario.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (n.d.). Health impacts of Eskomʼs non-compliance with minimum emissions standards. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CREA-Report_Health-Impacts-of-Eskoms-non-compliance.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. Health impacts of Eskomʼs non-compliance with minimum emissions standards. n.d. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CREA-Report_Health-Impacts-of-Eskoms-non-compliance.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=Health impacts of Eskomʼs non-compliance with minimum emissions standards |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CREA-Report_Health-Impacts-of-Eskoms-non-compliance.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrightsndhealth, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{Health impacts of Eskomʼs non-compliance with minimum emissions standards}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CREA-Report_Health-Impacts-of-Eskoms-non-compliance.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }