Development and Climate Change: Convergent or Divergent? A Look at South Africa's Coal Dependency and its Green Targets

South Africa faces a conflict between its development goals—focused on poverty alleviation and economic growth—and its climate targets, as 90% of its electricity is generated from coal. While the country has proposed ambitious emission cuts of 25% by 2020 and 42% by 2025, it continues to expand coal capacity through projects like the Medupi and Kusile plants to address electricity supply constraints. The document argues that development and climate mitigation can converge through an innovative economic agenda that exploits green market opportunities to create a new labour-absorbing industry.

• South Africa's electricity generation is overwhelmingly dependent on coal, with 90% of power coming from coal combustion and only 10% from nuclear, hydro-electric, and renewable sources. This has made the country the 13th largest emitter of anthropogenic gases.
• Due to electricity demand outstripping supply and the need for affordable energy to reduce poverty, South Africa is expanding its coal-fired capacity. This includes the construction of the 4,800 MW Medupi and 5,400 MW Kusile plants, as well as re-commissioning the Camden, Grootvlei, and Komati stations for a combined 3,800 MW.
• South Africa has set targets to reduce emissions from 'business as usual' levels by 25% before 2020 and 42% before 2025. These targets are intended to mitigate severe climate effects on the African continent and serve as a signal in international bargaining.
• International climate negotiations, specifically the December 2009 Copenhagen conference, failed to produce binding agreements due to disputes over climate justice. South Africa's position aligns with China's in defending the right of developing nations to reduce emissions voluntarily rather than through binding mandates, especially when developed nations lack binding intermediate goals for 2025.
• The government is implementing environmental fiscal reforms to encourage a transition, including a carbon tax on passenger vehicles starting in September 2010, an environmental tax on non-renewable electricity, and proposed taxes on coal companies and their loads to Eskom.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2010). Development and Climate Change: Convergent or Divergent? A Look at South Africa's Coal Dependency and its Green Targets. https://saiia.org.za/research/development-and-climate-changeconvergent-or-divergent-a-look-at-south-africas-coal-dependency-and-its-green-targets/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Development and Climate Change: Convergent or Divergent? A Look at South Africa's Coal Dependency and its Green Targets. 2010. https://saiia.org.za/research/development-and-climate-changeconvergent-or-divergent-a-look-at-south-africas-coal-dependency-and-its-green-targets/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Development and Climate Change: Convergent or Divergent? A Look at South Africa's Coal Dependency and its Green Targets |date=8 September 2010 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/development-and-climate-changeconvergent-or-divergent-a-look-at-south-africas-coal-dependency-and-its-green-targets/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2010development, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Development and Climate Change: Convergent or Divergent? A Look at South Africa's Coal Dependency and its Green Targets}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2010}, month = sep, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/development-and-climate-changeconvergent-or-divergent-a-look-at-south-africas-coal-dependency-and-its-green-targets/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }