South Africa Needs Concessional Climate Finance, Pershing Says

Emissions rise from a tower of the Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. Kusile coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga, South Africa, on Monday, Dec. 23, 2019. The level of sulfur dioxide emissions in the Kriel area in Mpumalanga province only lags the Norilsk Nickel metal complex in the Russian town of Norilsk, the environmental group Greenpeace said in a statement, citing 2018 data from NASA satellites. , Bloomberg

Paul Burkhardt, Bloomberg News

Oct 1, 2021

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(Bloomberg) -- South Africa will need a mix of grants and concessional loans to help effect a transition from coal to cleaner energy, Jonathan Pershing, the U.S.’s deputy special envoy for climate, said.

While South Africa, as a middle-income nation, is not usually eligible for concessional finance, Pershing said at a press conference on Friday that there is a “need” in the country.

Envoys from the U.S., U.K., Germany, France and the European Union were in South Africa this week to discuss support for an energy transition program. Financial support of almost $5 billion was suggested in the talks, a person familiar with the negotiations told Bloomberg.

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