MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd November, 2021) France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union, along with the government of South Africa, launched on Tuesday the so-called Just Energy Transition Partnership, designed to promote the decarbonization of South Africa, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
"The Partnership is expected to prevent up to 1-1.5 gigatonnes of emissions over the next 20 years and support South Africa to move away from coal and to accelerate its transition to a low-emission, climate-resilient economy," the commission said in a statement.
The initiative will prioritize the South African electricity system and mobilize initial funding of $8.5 billion in the form of grants, investments, concession loans, and risk-sharing tools to help South Africa achieve its renewed Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) emissions target under the Paris agreement on climate change, to which the country is a signatory.
In September, the South African government adopted a more ambitious NDC to lower annual greenhouse emissions to between 350 and 420 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by the end of the decade.
The joint initiative will also finance the creation of green jobs and options to mitigate the effects of the energy transition on mining workers and communities, the statement read.
Any other country willing to assist South Africa in decarbonization is invited to join the partnership, it also said.
