‘We are arguing too much’: Activist slams SA’s slow shift to renewable energy
Despite Standard Bank’s surge in green investments, activists say SA’s energy transition is mired in debate rather than action
19 October 2023 - 05:00
by Denene Erasmus
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If the corporate sector is genuine about playing a positive role in SA’s just energy transition, leaders should speak up when politicians deliberately push narratives that seek to distract from the urgent need to speed up decarbonisation and investment in renewable energy.
This was according to Tracy Davies, executive director of shareholder activism and responsible investment organisation, Just Share SA.
The debate in SA about how the country should respond to climate change and implement a just transition “has been deliberately skewed”, and instead of grappling with real issues, such as the implementation of just transition plans that have already been developed, “we are still talking about whether we need to [transition] and how fast we should move”.
“We are not building renewable energy fast enough, because we are arguing too much.”
She referred to the many attacks minerals resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe has made against NGOs that oppose new fossil fuel developments in SA and around the country’s coastline at recent public events.
At the Africa Oil Week (AOW) and African Energy Week (AEC) in Cape Town in recent weeks, Mantashe repeated statements he has made, calling for NGOs to disclose the names of their donors.
He said “foreign-funded NGOs” were being used to “weaponise climate change” to block development in developing nations.
“Have you seen a single corporate leader stand up and challenge this? If the corporate sector is genuine about playing a positive role in the transition, it must be opposed to this kind of baiting we see from politicians, but that is just not happening,” Davies said.
Corporate sector’s silent stance
She said she understood the constraints businesses faced when there were delays from government in putting in place policies and regulations that would support a just transition, but businesses should be using the access they have to government through structures such as the national energy crisis committee to speed up necessary reforms.
“Businesses have access to government that civil society organisations don’t have ... it is hard [for us] to understand from the outside what role the corporate sector is playing in driving policy in the right direction,” she said.
We are not building renewable energy fast enough, because we are arguing too much
Tracy Davies, executive director, Just Share SA
According to Standard Bank, while it continues to fund “non-renewable” energy, the bank’s investment portfolio in renewable energy is growing rapidly, while the share of funding to fossil fuel-driven power generation in total lending has declined.
“Our financing of renewable energy was 439% greater than our financing of non-renewable energy in 2022. That means for every R1 that funded non-renewable power generation, we directed R4.39 towards renewable energy,” said Kenny Fihla, CEO of Standard Bank’s Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB).
Their investment in renewables grew 84% between 2021 and 2022, while non-renewable power generation lending, including to Eskom, has fallen from 0.36% in 2021 to 0.30% in 2022.
He said the bank’s climate commitments were aligned with the Paris Agreement’s “common but differentiated responsibility, which allows for flexibility for developing nations as we move towards net zero”.
Standard Bank has committed to reducing carbon emissions to net zero from its portfolio of financed emissions by 2050.
Fihla said the bank recognised there was a “deep energy deficit” across many African countries and that the energy transition to renewables will be “gradual and measured”.
Davies, however, challenged the assumption that African countries and other developed nations should move at a slower pace to decarbonise compared with rich nations.
“We are not moving fast enough at government, corporate and civil society level. We are not reducing emissions fast enough, and this conversation of the ‘global north’ and the ‘global south’ moving at different paces of transition and that they have ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ is paralysing us. It is a dangerous distraction.”
In their interactions with banks, said Davies, they were not proposing an immediate and total ban on fossil fuel financing. “Everybody understands that coal and other fossil fuels will still be around for the next few decades. What we are calling for is plans for a rapid decline in fossil fuel financing.”
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
‘We are arguing too much’: Activist slams SA’s slow shift to renewable energy
Despite Standard Bank’s surge in green investments, activists say SA’s energy transition is mired in debate rather than action
If the corporate sector is genuine about playing a positive role in SA’s just energy transition, leaders should speak up when politicians deliberately push narratives that seek to distract from the urgent need to speed up decarbonisation and investment in renewable energy.
This was according to Tracy Davies, executive director of shareholder activism and responsible investment organisation, Just Share SA.
The debate in SA about how the country should respond to climate change and implement a just transition “has been deliberately skewed”, and instead of grappling with real issues, such as the implementation of just transition plans that have already been developed, “we are still talking about whether we need to [transition] and how fast we should move”.
“We are not building renewable energy fast enough, because we are arguing too much.”
She referred to the many attacks minerals resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe has made against NGOs that oppose new fossil fuel developments in SA and around the country’s coastline at recent public events.
At the Africa Oil Week (AOW) and African Energy Week (AEC) in Cape Town in recent weeks, Mantashe repeated statements he has made, calling for NGOs to disclose the names of their donors.
He said “foreign-funded NGOs” were being used to “weaponise climate change” to block development in developing nations.
“Have you seen a single corporate leader stand up and challenge this? If the corporate sector is genuine about playing a positive role in the transition, it must be opposed to this kind of baiting we see from politicians, but that is just not happening,” Davies said.
Corporate sector’s silent stance
She said she understood the constraints businesses faced when there were delays from government in putting in place policies and regulations that would support a just transition, but businesses should be using the access they have to government through structures such as the national energy crisis committee to speed up necessary reforms.
“Businesses have access to government that civil society organisations don’t have ... it is hard [for us] to understand from the outside what role the corporate sector is playing in driving policy in the right direction,” she said.
According to Standard Bank, while it continues to fund “non-renewable” energy, the bank’s investment portfolio in renewable energy is growing rapidly, while the share of funding to fossil fuel-driven power generation in total lending has declined.
“Our financing of renewable energy was 439% greater than our financing of non-renewable energy in 2022. That means for every R1 that funded non-renewable power generation, we directed R4.39 towards renewable energy,” said Kenny Fihla, CEO of Standard Bank’s Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB).
Their investment in renewables grew 84% between 2021 and 2022, while non-renewable power generation lending, including to Eskom, has fallen from 0.36% in 2021 to 0.30% in 2022.
He said the bank’s climate commitments were aligned with the Paris Agreement’s “common but differentiated responsibility, which allows for flexibility for developing nations as we move towards net zero”.
Standard Bank has committed to reducing carbon emissions to net zero from its portfolio of financed emissions by 2050.
Fihla said the bank recognised there was a “deep energy deficit” across many African countries and that the energy transition to renewables will be “gradual and measured”.
Davies, however, challenged the assumption that African countries and other developed nations should move at a slower pace to decarbonise compared with rich nations.
“We are not moving fast enough at government, corporate and civil society level. We are not reducing emissions fast enough, and this conversation of the ‘global north’ and the ‘global south’ moving at different paces of transition and that they have ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ is paralysing us. It is a dangerous distraction.”
In their interactions with banks, said Davies, they were not proposing an immediate and total ban on fossil fuel financing. “Everybody understands that coal and other fossil fuels will still be around for the next few decades. What we are calling for is plans for a rapid decline in fossil fuel financing.”
erasmusd@businesslive.co.za
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