deal to help wean South Africa off its dependence on coal is hanging in the balance amid fraught negotiations with rich donor countries over how the funds should be spent.
One key factor holding back the deal is the lack of detail South Africa has given on how it will spend the money its partners — the US, UK, France, Germany and the EU — will invest, the people said. Despite ever more strident climate warnings, however, coal use is set to rise 0.7% this year to eight billion tons, the record level it reached almost a decade ago, according to the International Energy Agency.
The investment partners have stressed that the deal is primarily meant to allow some of South Africa’s coal-fired plants to close and be repurposed to produce renewable energy, with some funding also available to expand the national power grid in a country that suffers regular blackouts. There’s concern about the UK’s commitment given the recent change in leadership and radical changes to economic polic