All Articles

South Africa’s biggest C02-emmiting firms are caught in a PR bind. They are accused of working to ‘delay, dilute or derail’ Net-Zero goals in Africa’s wealthiest economy. When confronted, they struggle with vague denials. In May, a report titled ‘The Obstruction Playbook’ reveals the sophisticated, yet subtle tactics some of South Africa’s biggest corporates deploy to frustrate the climate pledges made by the Just Energy Transition Plan committed to by South Africa in 2021.

As new nuclear plants take off in South Africa, and an old one is being stretched to life, farmers dread that high-level, radioactive nuclear waste will be buried on their land in a Nevada-like remote district.

From 2018 to 2023, South Africa endured a debilitating energy crisis as rolling blackouts paralysed the nation. This catastrophe stemmed from the premature decommissioning of coal plants without adequate replacement capacity. While South Africa struggled, China and India—two of the world's top coal consumers—expanded their coal infrastructure with less scrutiny, revealing a global inequity in climate policy.