OPINION| The COP26 Deal Will Not Be Enough To End SA’s Coal Addiction

RAY MWAREYA|

SOUTH Africa runs on coal. It is the world’s seventh-largest coal producer, and about 80 percent of the country’s energy is generated by it. In addition to the extensive use of coal in the domestic economy, about 30 percent of South Africa’s production is exported, making the country the fourth-largest coal exporter in the world.

The vast scale of South Africa’s coal operation, run by the state power company Eskom, is an obstacle in the way of global efforts to combat climate change. Indeed, today South Africa is the 12th-biggest carbon dioxide emitter in the world.

The international community has long been trying to find ways to help South Africa recover from its coal addiction. In late September, in the run-up to the COP26 summit in Glasgow, for example, high-level climate envoys from the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union visited South Africa to “discuss