South Africa

Last updated: July 2024

The country is one of the priority countries with which the International Climate Initiative (IKI) maintains a particularly close cooperation.

South Africa has one of the most carbon-intensive economies in the world, since the country is dependent on fossil fuels in the electricity, industry and transport sectors. Coal amounts to approximately 75 percent of primary energy, which is equivalent to 85 percent of electricity production. However, the percentage of renewable energies in the electricity mix has risen sharply in recent years. The industrial sectors of the country, including the mining, metal and automotive industries, have developed alongside the fossil energy sector, leading to complex mutual dependencies.

Despite various intervention measures, the energy supply from predominantly old coal-fired power plants is not secure. Time and again, entire parts of the city have to be taken off the power grid for several hours to prevent the grid from collapsing completely.

This measure is referred to as “loadshedding”. The consequences for the population and for economy as a whole is tremendous. Therefore, the country is confronted with the great challenge of making the expansion of additional power generation capacities renewable and sustainable - and of developing a political strategy that takes economic growth and the South African climate and biodiversity targets into consideration.

South Africa held elections in May 2024. Mandela's ANC party fell short of an absolute majority for the first time since the end of apartheid and must now form a coalition. The choice of coalition partner will point the way forward for the country, including for future climate and biodiversity policy.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa established the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) in 2020, which is tasked with better coordinating national climate policy.

The latest NDC maps out an approach for a just transition for the achievement of the NDC targets. It also ensures that communities affected by climate action and the changeover to low-emission development are also beneficiaries of the extensive transformation process. Changes in legislation and a recently concluded renewable energy procurement procedure indicate several positive developments, although the approach initially relied strongly on fossil investments in the wake of the global pandemic.

To achieve its climate targets, South Africa is planning the introduction of a Climate Change Bill. The Climate Change Bill was adopted by all nine provinces on 25 April 2024 without any amendments. The law must now be signed by the president. The formation of the government after the election will be decisive for this process. The Climate Change Bill is primarily intended to promote an integrated and coordinated approach by all levels of government in order to support a national target pathway for greenhouse gas emissions towards a low-emission economy and to set national adaptation targets.

The “National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy” (NCCAS) was adopted in August 2020 and forms the basis of the Climate Change Bill.

One of the biggest challenges in the adaptation to climate change is in particular the ongoing water crisis in the country.

South Africa has signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); the revised National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) is valid for the period 2015 to 2025.
The Just Energy Transition Partnership with South Africa
The priority of the country's climate policy is to drive forward a socially just structural change (just transition) in all sectors. At the 2021 World Climate Conference (COP26), South Africa initiated a long-term Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with France, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany. The international partner countries are supporting the JETP in South Africa with 8.5 billion US dollars for the period 2023 to 2027. Germany's initial contribution of 968 million US dollars is based on its long-term cooperation with South Africa. The sectors to be initially invested in have been identified as the energy, transport and green hydrogen industries.

The IKI supports this process with the project Just Transition to a Decarbonised Economy for South Africa (JUST SA) and the global project Innovation Regions for a Just Energy Transition, among others.
The work of the IKI in South Africa focuses on climate change mitigation and the “Just Energy Transition”. The IKI is also active in the areas of biodiversity, adaptation to climate change and the conservation of forests. In bilateral cooperation, there are currently ongoing projects on energy efficiency in public buildings and infrastructure as well as on the development and implementation of South Africa's climate policy.

One project from the IKI Country Call with South Africa in 2020 has already been implemented and another is currently being prepared for realisation. The following two funding priorities were defined:

Just Transition to a Decarbonised Economy for South Africa (JUST SA)

Restoring Landscapes in South Africa (ReLISA)

Interface project

Most priority countries of the IKI also engage in so-called IKI interface projects, which have permanent project offices in the capital city of the respective country. Alongside their own, country-specific project commission, these interface projects are also tasked with maintaining close contact to environment and climate ministries as well as networking with other relevant ministries in the field of climate and biodiversity policy. Beyond this, the interface projects also work to network all of the IKI projects in the country and region together so as to promote synergies.

In South Africa, the interface function is currently represented by the project Climate Support Programme IV.

Project priorities

Support of the DFFE in the implementation of national climate goals in the areas of climate change mitigation, adaptation to climate change and transparency, as well as consultation on the integration of the biodiversity aspect;
Promotion of innovative financing streams;
Support for the preparation of projects (climate action and biodiversity conservation);
Function as an IKI interface: Promotion of dialogue on climate and biodiversity between the IKI projects in the country as well as between other actors (networking opportunities and knowledge management).

Project contact

iki.interface.southafrica(at)giz.de

Link to project page

Twitter: @IKI_SouthAfrica

Insights into the project work

All projects in the country

In a nutshell

Region: Southern Africa

Population: 59.9 million (World Bank, 2022)

CO₂eq emissions (incl. LUCF): 508.4 million t (ClimateWatch, 2020)

CO₂eq emissions per capita (incl. LUCF): 8.6 t (ClimateWatch, 2020)

Total energy supply (IRENA, 2020):

6 % RE (83 % Bioenergy - 2 % Hydro/marine - 15 % Solar)
14 % Oil
3 % Gas
2 % Nuclear
75 % Coal + others

IKI projects in the country (last updated in July 2024):

bilateral: 7 ongoing, 11 completed
regional: 3 ongoing, 6 completed
global: 16 ongoing, 45 completed

ClimateWatch

NDC partnership: country page

IKI partner ministries:

Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE)
Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE)
Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI)
Department for Water and Sanitation (DWS)
Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC)

The IKI Strategy

The IKI wants to maximise its impact on climate action and biodiversity conservation. To this end, it concentrates its funding activities on prioritised fields of action within the four funding areas. Another key element is the close cooperation with selected partner countries, especially with the IKI’s priority countries.

Click here for the IKI Strategy