The role of the Just Energy Transition Partnership in contributing to the implementation of South Africads NDC: A new form of climate finance and international cooperation?

The report analyzes South Africa's Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) using a 'two-level game' framework to examine the interaction between international diplomacy and domestic politics. While the JETP provided a country-led platform to articulate financial needs and accelerated conversations on NDC implementation, it has faced significant hurdles. These include a lack of transparency from the International Partners Group (IPG), a contested domestic political landscape characterized by ministerial 'turf wars', and a financial package heavily weighted toward loans rather than grants. The study highlights that the JETP's success depends on South Africa's ability to build institutional capacity and deliver on implementation to maintain international credibility, while the IPG must provide more transparent and justice-oriented funding.

• The JETP financial package of $8.5 billion is criticized for its composition, with grant financing making up less than 4% of the total, which is lower than the expectations of the South African government and civil society.
• There is a significant funding gap for South Africa's transition; the JETP offer covers only 12% of the total investment needed over the next five years, leaving an estimated gap of around R700 billion.
• The allocation of funds within the JETP is heavily skewed toward the electricity sector (over 80%), while social justice elements—such as skills development and social investment—receive only 0.59% of the total allocation.
• Domestic implementation is hindered by 'turf wars' and political friction within the South African Cabinet, specifically between the Minister of Electricity in the Presidency, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, and the Minister of Public Enterprises.
• The state of Eskom, characterized by corruption, mismanagement, and a prohibition on additional borrowing from the Ministry of Finance, represents a major risk to the JETP's implementation since the deal was originally conceived as Eskom-specific.
• The JETP process has been criticized by social partners for a lack of transparency and inclusivity, described as a 'black box' where consultations for the Investment Plan (JET IP) occurred only after the plan had already been developed.
• The International Partners Group (IPG) has been criticized for a lack of reciprocal accountability, as their progress reports focus overwhelmingly on South Africa's domestic actions while providing few public details on the specific financial instruments offered.
• South Africa's domestic knowledge base, developed through the NDC, Just Transition Framework, and JET IP, has been a critical enabler for building national consensus and ensuring the transition remains a country-led agenda.
• The JETP is viewed as an innovative instrument because it streamlines negotiations and increases the scale of funding compared to traditional bilateral deals, though it still largely follows traditional Official Development Assistance (ODA) arrangements.

APA

Boulle, M. (2023). The role of the Just Energy Transition Partnership in contributing to the implementation of South Africads NDC: A new form of climate finance and international cooperation? Climate Strategies. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/230905_Report_South_Africa.pdf

Chicago

Boulle, Michael. The role of the Just Energy Transition Partnership in contributing to the implementation of South Africads NDC: A new form of climate finance and international cooperation? Climate Strategies, 2023. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/230905_Report_South_Africa.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Boulle |first1=Michael |title=The role of the Just Energy Transition Partnership in contributing to the implementation of South Africads NDC: A new form of climate finance and international cooperation? |publisher=Climate Strategies |date=August 2023 |url=https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/230905_Report_South_Africa.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{boulle2023role, author = {Boulle, Michael}, title = {{The role of the Just Energy Transition Partnership in contributing to the implementation of South Africads NDC: A new form of climate finance and international cooperation?}}, institution = {Climate Strategies}, year = {2023}, month = aug, url = {https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/230905_Report_South_Africa.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }