South Africa adopts climate law mandating GHG reduction targets

South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Climate Change Bill into law on July 23, leading the country towards sector-specific and company-level greenhouse gas reduction targets.

The law, now known as the Climate Change Act, aims to enable South Africa to meet its Paris Agreement climate pledges, dubbed Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). In the works since 2022, the legislation includes the setting of sector-wide GHG emissions reduction targets, which could even be translated into mandated carbon budgets for individual companies. 

According to the draft sectoral emissions target (SET) report published by the Department of Forestries, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) in April 2024, the industries covered by the law include agriculture, industry, energy, mining, transportation, forestry and human settlements. 

Decarbonising South Africa’s power supply

Overall, the SETs could result in an emissions reduction of 27 million tonnes by 2030, as well as the avoidance of 71 million tonnes of GHG emissions from the electricity sector. South Africa has committed to bringing its carbon footprint down to 350-420 million tonnes of CO2e by 2030.

The DFFE considers this goal achievable “with increased investment to implement more ambitious targets in the electricity and transport sectors” – but few details have emerged as to funding mechanisms to enable the Climate Change Act’s implementation.

South Africa’s power grid currently relies heavily on coal (which made up 74% of the country’s energy mix in 2020), while facing stability issues that are leading companies operating there to resort to backup diesel generators – a problem NTT’s SVP of Sustainability Nicky Bullivant identified as an obstacle to the company’s decarbonisation strategy in an interview with CSO Futures.

As of 2021, electricity made up 55% of the country’s energy-related emissions – which amounted to more than 400 million tonnes of CO2e. The share of renewables in the energy mix is increasing, but still represented less than 5% of the overall energy supply in 2020.

Climate adaptation measures

In addition to the GHG reductions mandated by the law, South Africa will require cities and provinces to assess climate risks and develop adaptation plans – a crucial step in protecting the country from the worst impacts of climate change.

Researchers at the University of Cape Town estimate that  climate change is particularly threatening small-scale farmers, who support a large proportion of the country’s agricultural exports, due to the increased frequency and intensity of droughts, heatwaves and severe flooding. 

“These extreme weather events are likely to damage crops and infrastructure, and threaten plants and animals that attract tourism. The impacts of climate change are likely to affect livelihoods, food and water security and ultimately increase the cost of living for South Africans,” they wrote in a recent report.

Announcing President Ramaphosa’s signing of the bill, the South African Presidency said the law “also sets out to enhance South Africa’s ability and capacity over time to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and build climate resilience, while reducing the risk of job losses, and promoting opportunities for new job opportunities in the emerging green economy”.