South Africa is highly coal and energy-intensive, with an economy characterized by extremely high levels of unemployment and inequality. In the long run, sustainable growth and development in South Africa will depend crucially on the transition away from a coal-intensive energy system and economy and towards a climate-friendly and renewable energy system. How this happens, and what the transition looks like for different actors and over different time scales is key to understanding the challenges of, and opportunities in, a South African energy transition.

While South Africa has started its transition away from coal already, moving to a 2-degree Celsius compatible world will require further political commitment and planning. This workshop aims to present some initial analyses done by IFPRI, UCT, and SANEDI of what the pathway may look like on the supply side. The technical workshop on August 28th will focus on coal mining and the power and transport sectors. 

IFPRI Participant

• Channing Arndt, Director of Environment and Production Technology Division, IFPRI