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This report discusses the restructuring of South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) into two separate entities—the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources and the Department of Electricity and Energy—following the formation of a Government of National Unity. It outlines the roles these new departments must play in managing the coal phase-out, the growth of renewable energy, and the sustainable mining of minerals required for the green economy.

The document assesses the limitations of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) in South Africa, noting that its focus on infrastructure may sideline workers. It proposes reallocating bank lending and retirement funds to unlock billions for onshore developmental projects and recommends implementing a Green Financial Taxonomy and targeted credit allocation to support a worker-centred transition.

The document examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected energy demand, security, and utility finances in emerging economies, arguing that the recovery phase presents an opportunity for a 'green recovery'. Using case studies from Indonesia, Kenya, Thailand, Mexico, and South Africa, it identifies common challenges such as household energy insecurity and financial stress for state-owned utilities. The authors urge governments to integrate green recovery into their NDC planning, commit to accelerated decarbonisation, and address systemic vulnerabilities to prevent social injustices during the energy transition.

The document argues for a comprehensive AU-EU partnership on the green transition and energy access that moves beyond a risk-based lens to address Africa's developmental goals. It highlights the critical need to expand electricity access, leverage private investment through de-risking mechanisms, and integrate nexus issues such as agriculture and the digital economy. While acknowledging the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, the briefing suggests the crisis offers an opportunity to redesign the partnership to ensure a just transition that includes skills development and gender mainstreaming.

The document argues that while consumer-led battery deployment is rapid, grid-scale energy storage—particularly batteries—is a strategic priority that remains under-developed in South Africa. It details how storage can reduce load shedding, optimize existing grid infrastructure, and support a just energy transition by providing public benefits. The authors recommend the development of national and municipal strategies to create an enabling environment for grid battery deployment.

The report argues that Africa has a significant opportunity to transition from a 'pit-to-port' resource extraction model to a green industrialization strategy focused on solar PV, batteries, and electric vehicles. It highlights that while Africa holds approximately 30% of the world's essential transition mineral reserves, it lacks investment in manufacturing, with most clean-tech imports originating from G20 countries, particularly China. The document proposes a G20 Action Plan involving a financing roadmap, a dedicated partnerships platform, and reforms to international trade and technology access norms to enable African countries to build competitive local value chains and create millions of green jobs.

The document examines the role of the private sector in South Africa's just energy transition (JET), specifically focusing on the Mpumalanga province. It highlights a gap in citizen perception, where the private sector is not seen as a key stakeholder in mitigating climate change. By comparing the Govan Mbeki and Bushbuckridge local municipalities, the report demonstrates how public-private partnerships can improve essential services like water and electricity, which in turn enhances climate resilience and public health. It recommends that businesses invest in sustainable infrastructure and community engagement to decentralise climate knowledge and support a low-carbon economy.

China has positioned itself as a leader in green technology innovation, utilizing aid, trade, and investment to support the energy transition in the Global South. Through mechanisms like the Belt and Road Initiative and the South–South Climate Cooperation Fund, China has deployed renewable energy, electric vehicles, and sustainable agricultural technologies across Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. However, the effectiveness of these partnerships is hindered by gaps between environmental commitments and actual impacts, limited local operational capacity, geopolitical tensions with Western nations, and difficulties in meeting global ESG standards.

The document argues that Africa is well-positioned to become a major global hub for green hydrogen due to its abundant renewable energy potential, strategic location, and existing infrastructure. It examines global strategies from the EU, Australia, and Chile, and highlights specific projects in South Africa, Namibia, Mauritania, and Morocco. The authors recommend that the G20 provide targeted financing for infrastructure, facilitate technology transfers for local value addition, and help establish stable offtake agreements and harmonised regulatory standards to prevent deepening energy insecurity in Africa.

The document argues that while African nations have submitted ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), they face a massive climate finance gap and high debt burdens that hinder a just energy transition. It critiques previous G20 presidencies for treating developing countries as a monolith and failing to address Africa's specific needs, such as the disparity between mitigation and adaptation funding. The brief recommends that the Brazilian and South African G20 presidencies focus on increasing the flow and quality of finance through concessional capital, debt-for-nature swaps, and the re-channeling of special drawing rights, while also enhancing Africa's participation in carbon markets and attracting private sector investment.

The Climate Change Citizenship for a Just Transition in South Africa project, co-funded by the European Union and delivered by GreenCape, focused on empowering urban and rural communities in the Eastern, Northern, and Western Cape. The initiative established nine active climate clubs reaching 422 high school learners and facilitated community engagement in national policy processes, including the National Climate Change Bill and the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan. With over 500 participants in training workshops and a high rate of female participation, the project was rated as highly effective by an independent evaluation based on OECD-DAC criteria, demonstrating sustained local ownership and impact.

Damilola Ogunbiyi's keynote speech at the 9th Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue emphasizes the critical need for equitable financing and industrialization in the Global South. She highlights the severe disparity in renewable energy investment, noting that Sub-Saharan Africa received less than 1.5% of global investment between 2000 and 2020. To address this, she promotes the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI) to generate carbon credits and revenue, and the Renewable Energy Manufacturing Initiative (REMI) to foster green industry in Africa and Asia. Ogunbiyi advocates for whole-economy energy transition plans (ETPs), citing Nigeria's plan which estimates a cost of USD 1.9 trillion to reach net-zero by 2060.

The document examines how Brazil and South Africa use carbon pricing, green bonds, green taxonomies, and central bank regulations to fund their transitions to net zero by 2050. It highlights the inadequacy of current international climate finance, noting that developing countries pay significantly more for multilateral development bank finance and that most climate funding arrives as loans rather than grants. The brief details South Africa's carbon tax and Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), and Brazil's voluntary carbon market and sovereign sustainable bonds. It argues that BRICS nations should use peer learning to scale these tools and collectively advocate for the restructuring of the World Bank and IMF to ensure more affordable and equitable finance for the Global South.

South Africa's carbon-intensive export model is increasingly vulnerable as 78% of its exports are sold to countries with net zero targets. The report highlights acute risks in the basic metals, automotive, and agricultural sectors due to high embodied CO2 emissions compared to global competitors. While the EU's CBAM and shifting US trade policies pose immediate threats, South Africa's reserves of critical minerals and renewable energy potential offer a strategic path toward 'carbon competitiveness'. The report argues that success depends on decarbonising the national electricity grid, implementing the Climate Change Act 2024, and securing international support through the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).

South Africa faces significant trade risks as its carbon-intensive export model clashes with global net zero targets and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAMs). Approximately 78% of its exports are sold to countries with net zero targets, and hundreds of thousands of jobs are exposed to CBAMs in the EU and UK. High embodied CO2 emissions in the basic metals and automotive sectors, combined with a carbon-intensive electricity grid, threaten competitiveness. However, the document notes South Africa's potential to pivot using its critical minerals and renewable energy resources, provided that international financial commitments like the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) are fulfilled.

South Africa's Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy aims to maximise the economic value of its vast mineral reserves—including PGMs, manganese, and vanadium—by shifting from raw ore exports to local beneficiation and high-tech manufacturing. The strategy identifies a specific list of high, moderate-to-high, and moderate criticality minerals and proposes six pillars of intervention: geoscience mapping, value addition, R&D, infrastructure/energy security, financial instruments, and regulatory harmonisation. It emphasizes the need to overcome domestic bottlenecks in energy and logistics, foster regional integration within Africa, and navigate geopolitical tensions, particularly China's dominance in the supply chain, to secure a role in the global green energy transition.

The document argues that South Africa's transition from a carbon-intensive, coal-dependent economy to green energy requires a strategic focus on skills development within the TVET ecosystem. Given the country's high unemployment rate of 35.3% and the potential for job losses in fossil-fuel industries, the report emphasizes a 'just transition' that utilizes reskilling, economic diversification, and social welfare to protect vulnerable workers while preparing the workforce for new technological revolutions, including 4IR technologies.

The report provides a comprehensive overview of energy transition progress in Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, and Vietnam. It highlights the role of independent think tanks in driving policy breakthroughs, such as coal phase-outs and renewable energy targets, while identifying systemic barriers including political resistance, grid limitations, and financing gaps. The document argues that while technology strategies (renewables and electrification) are converging, national implementation is shaped by distinct local political and social factors.

The report examines the impact of global decarbonisation on Africa's natural gas sector, distinguishing between existing and emerging producers. It argues that faster global transitions to net-zero emissions will reduce LNG demand and prices, creating 'external' climate transition risks that threaten the viability of future projects. The analysis suggests that domestic demand is an insufficient hedge against these risks due to regulated low prices and the increasing competitiveness of renewable energy. Emerging producers are identified as particularly vulnerable due to weaker sovereign credit ratings and the timing of their infrastructure investments.

The document examines how South Africa's current growth model and monetary governance reinforce a capital-intensive economy and inequality. It identifies significant unexploited liquidity in the banking and retirement sectors and proposes reforms to the South African Green Finance Taxonomy (SAGFT), the adoption of corporate transition plans, and the use of direct and indirect credit allocation tools to fund a just transition for workers.