The executive director of the Presidential Commission on Climate Change called the country’s coal industry “delusional” on Wednesday, saying the market for the fossil fuel was going to dwindle rapidly in the next decade.
“The industry is delusional, and I’m really struggling to get a sober conversation with the industry,” Crispian Olver said at a conference on coal and the energy transition in Johannesburg. On Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa made new pledges to tackle SA’s worst power crisis in history, promising to expand power generation, slash red tape and boost renewable energy procurement.
Seriti Resources CEO Mike Teke said “we are not climate deniers”, and that he had met Olver. Seriti, one of Eskom's biggest coal suppliers, is currently exporting “a lot of” coal too, Teke said, without providing details.