Experts predict that climate change will lead to extreme weather events like floods, storms, droughts and heatwaves becoming more intense and unpredictable. Photo: Andre Penner/Associated Press)
In Part 1 today, we unpack what South Africa is doing to help keep global warming — and the fallout from changing weather patterns — at bay.
To make good on its climate promises, South Africa is aiming to pump no more than the equivalent of 420 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the air by 2030 — and according to our sums, it looks like the country is on track.
That’s why a loan of about R3.8 billion (about €200million/R62bn) from Germany announced in April is such a boon.
The funding is part of the Just Energy Transition Partnership, which is meant to help South Africa switch to renewable energy sources like solar and wind power — something that is especially important seeing that coal-fired power stations and cars that run on petrol and diesel account for more than 80% of South Africa’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
