The public release of the Power Sector Decarbonisation Report from the NBI Just Transition Pathways project – Our future is renewable

We are excited to share the first in a series of report chapters on the decarbonisation pathways for the South African economy. Join us on 11^th August 2021 as we release the findings of the NBI Just Transition Pathways project for the South African power sector as a draft chapter for public consultation.

Background:

South Africa and her people are extremely vulnerable to the physical risk of climate change and our economy is vulnerable to the transition risk presented by a rapid global trend to a low-carbon future. This trend is driven by the dire need to cut greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change globally. We also need to consider green industrialisation as an opportunity to get us out of the global economic crisis triggered by the devastating COVID-19 Pandemic. To support our economic recovery and ensure long term competitiveness and social resilience in the face of future climate and transition risk, South Africa needs a Just Transition plan or we will risk getting left behind. We therefore need to work toward a goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

It is also essential that the South African business community is able to contribute constructively to conversations around what a just transition looks like in South Africa.  Our future must be ecologically and economically sustainable and just to ensure no one is left behind.

In response to the above imperatives, the NBI launched the Just Transition Pathways research project in 2020 in partnership with Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Together with participation from a broad range of stakeholders from business, government, civil society, and academia, we sought to identify decarbonisation pathways for key sectors of the South African economy aligned with net zero emissions by 2050. This was done to show that it is indeed possible to decarbonise our economy and to ensure a just transition.

This report chapter summarises the results from the power sector study and charts the technical and socio-economic pathway to net zero emissions by 2050. Two key findings of this report are:

1. By leveraging its world class renewable energy sources, South Africa can fully decarbonise its power sector, while unlocking the opportunity to stimulate economic growth and job creation.
2. The transformation of South Africa’s power system can result in net-positive job creation, if South Africa can successfully localise elements of the renewable energy value chain and effectively re-skill the workforce.

Join the webinar on 11 August 2021 to learn more about the results and consider implications and opportunities for South Africa with our multistakeholder panel. Register here via  Zoom to attend this session.