Johannesburg - “If we don’t act, we will allow the path of greed and selfishness to sow the seeds of our self-destruction. Code Red to the G7 countries! Code Red to the G20! For those who have eyes to see, for those who have ears to listen, for those who have hearts to feel!”
The most powerful speech you will hear this year was given in Glasgow by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, this week and she was not wanting for hallowed company.
She stared down some of the most powerful leaders, wagged her finger and told them that if they do not act on the climate change crisis, it would be nothing short of a dereliction of duty. Joe Biden, Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, Justin Trudeau, Jair Bolsanaro all sat stony faced and listened to this grandmotherly figure who spoke with wisdom, eloquence and almost prophetically about what is to come. Notably absent were Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin – the world’s number one and number four worst polluters respectively. Understandably, Cyril Ramaphosa was fighting an election back home and also not in attendance.
But it hardly mattered. The groundwork ahead of gatherings like this begins months, if not years, before the leaders come together for the speeches and the photo opportunities. As such Ramaphosa was not needed in person when his American counterpart Biden announced a landmark deal to help finance South Africa’s transition from coal to renewables for our electricity generation. The United States and the EU have pledged R131bn to help Eskom provide us with cleaner and more sustainable power.
The Eskom CEO, Andre de Ruyter, says we are the poster child for intervention in renewables for electricity generation. Our much-maligned utility, now a by-word for incompetence and corruption, could yet be a pathfinder as the world looks to address the climate change crisis. That is the glass half-empty.
When I tweeted the announcement on Twitter ahead of a discussion on my radio programme this week I was greeted with howls of protest if not downright scorn by some of my followers. “Where is your scepticism? How much of this will go to the pockets of those who govern us? Not a single cent will go towards renewable energy. It will be looted, plundered!” Quite apart from the legitimate concerns about corruption in South Africa, the other worry is whether or not the country has been sold down the road.
There are still more coal fired power stations currently being built around the world than the number being shut down. The value of coal – black gold – is at record highs; a worldwide energy shortage is the main driver. Even though we are the 12th worst polluter in the world and the largest in Africa, we still contribute less than 1% of global emissions. So why are we being asked to climb off a runaway train many richer and more powerful nations who continue to do more damage are still riding? More importantly what happens to the workers, the industries and even towns that are built on the existence of coal mining in this country?
For 13 years, South Africans have lived with the spectre of load shedding – last year, in the middle of a pandemic, when much of our economy was shut down, was still the worst on record. Eskom did not maintain existing infrastructure, did not build new power plants and those we do have are now limping towards the end of their life cycles. We have heard the litany of explanations as often as the lights have gone out.
We also know that Eskom is in dire distress. It does not have the money to get us out of the mess it has created. Our power utility runs our transmission grid – there simply is no talk of electricity without the dark lords of Megawatt Park. Whether we build new stations in the way we have always done or switch to renewables, the mountain we must climb is steep and it may take years before we are energy secure.
The world’s rich nations want to be seen to be responsive to the pleas of prime minister Mottley. They face enormous pressure from their electorates to make lasting and tangible commitments to roll back against global warming. South Africa went to COP26 with a plan and has convinced international backers to bet on us. But they may not be the toughest audience – there is likely to be enormous resistance unless President Ramaphosa and his advisors get the support of the unions who still cling on for the easy gains of fossil fuels.
This won’t be a fight about science or even economics – people like Mottley have argued those forcefully enough – but one for hearts and minds. News that the president’s brother-in-law, Patrice Motsepe’s, energy firm has won all the recently approved green power projects may muddy the waters even further.