The European Union said on Friday that it will invest more than 280 million euros ($303 million) in South Africa in the form of grants to help the country transition away from its coal-based economy.
The funds will be used to “support policy reforms on green recovery, unlock green investments, and build a knowledge-based transition,” according to a statement from the bloc.
Together with South Africa, we are committed to a decarbonisation road, the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said in a statement. Borrell is in Pretoria for discussions.
South Africa and other African nations have been vigorously courted by Russia, China, and the West since the Ukraine conflict began.
The EU stated that the funds were provided as part of the bloc’s recently revealed Global Gateway strategy, which is intended in part to counter China’s rising influence.
South Africa has championed developing nations’ objections that a disproportionate amount of the climate change aid they receive from wealthy nations is in the form of loans rather than grants.
A portion of EU funds will be allocated to the greening of municipal services and the repurposing of coal-fired power facilities.
South Africa, one of the twelve largest polluters in the world, generates around 80 percent of its electricity from coal.
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The grants are in addition to the $8.5 billion pledged to the continent’s biggest industrialized economy in 2021 by the European Union, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who was also in South Africa on Friday, stated that the United States will contribute more than $1 billion to the Just Energy Transition Partnership.
As she toured South Africa’s coal mining region in the eastern province of Mpumalanga, she stated that the United States is “committed to this engagement.”
Recent studies indicate that South Africa would gain more employment than it loses by transitioning to a green economy, but analysts say the transition will not be pleasant.
“We must demonstrate swiftly that these coal communities… will not be left behind in the context of an energy transition that benefits other regions,” Yellen said after inspecting a US-funded facility that trains women for jobs in renewable energy.
»European Union pays South Africa 280 million euros for green transformation«