The South African Climate Finance Landscape 2023

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative analyzes the climate finance landscape in South Africa, detailing the gap between current financial flows and the estimated needs required to meet national and international climate targets. It breaks down the sources, instruments, and sectoral allocations of climate finance, highlighting the dominance of private domestic investment and the clean energy sector.

• There is a significant gap between tracked climate finance and the estimated annual needs for South Africa. While annual finance reached an all-time high average of R131 billion between 2019 and 2021, this is far below the R334 billion per year needed to reach net zero by 2050 or the R535 billion per year required to meet the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target by 2030.
• Climate finance in South Africa is overwhelmingly driven by domestic and private sources. Domestic sources provided 91% of tracked finance, and private actors accounted for 86% (R113 billion p.a.) of annual investments. Within private flows, 98% were sourced from domestic actors, with commercial sources making up 92% (R103 billion p.a.) of that private total.
• Debt financing is the primary financial instrument used, accounting for 75% of annual climate finance (R98 billion p.a.), typically via market-rate instruments with a cost of capital between 10% and 12%. Equity finance averaged 18% (R23 billion p.a.), while government budget expenditure (5%), concessional debt (2%), and grants (1%) made up the remainder.
• Investment is heavily concentrated in mitigation and the clean energy sector. Mitigation finance represented 81% (R105 billion p.a.) of total tracked finance, while adaptation finance was only 12% (R16 billion p.a.). Clean energy was the dominant destination, receiving more than 63% of total tracked flows, driven by factors such as loadshedding, falling technology costs, and increasing grid electricity prices.
• Public sector contributions averaged R18 billion (14%) annually. The primary public providers were Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) at 55% (R10 billion p.a.) and the South African government at 33% (R6 billion p.a.). Public finance was split between domestic actors (41%) and international actors (59%).

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2023). The South African Climate Finance Landscape 2023. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/the-south-african-climate-finance-landscape-2023/

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. The South African Climate Finance Landscape 2023. 2023. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/the-south-african-climate-finance-landscape-2023/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=The South African Climate Finance Landscape 2023 |date=29 November 2023 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/the-south-african-climate-finance-landscape-2023/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2023south, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{The South African Climate Finance Landscape 2023}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/the-south-african-climate-finance-landscape-2023/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }