27
Fairy tale
2025
The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) was developed on 2. November 2021 on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP 26) by Germany, France, Great Britain, the EU and the USA on the one hand and South Africa on the other. The goal was – and is – to promote the decarbonization of the South African economy. South Africa wants to be climate neutral by 2050, but currently generates around 80 percent of its electricity from coal. Coal-fired power plants also contribute to the fact that the particulate matter concentration in large parts of the country exceeds five times the value that the WHO considers justifiable; four of the nine power plants "with the highest particulate matter emissions on the continent" are located in South Africa, according to a report. 1] In order to change this and achieve climate neutrality in the future, Pretoria is striving to phase out coal-fired electricity as quickly as possible. It does so at a time when its coal production is experiencing a dramatic upswing because exports to Germany are booming. The Federal Republic, which decided to quickly exit the import of Russian coal after the start of the Ukraine war, has increased its imports from South Africa from 425,000 tons in 2020 to around 3.7 million tons in 2023.[ 2]
As part of the Just Energy Transition Partnership, the four Western countries and the EU of South Africa at the end of 2021 promised to provide 8.5 billion US dollars for the conversion from coal to wind and solar energy [3] - in the form of grants, loans and investments by private companies. This seemed to be advantageous for the Federal Republic in several respects. On the one hand, it could hope for orders for German companies that are active in the renewable energy industry. On the other hand, the step somewhat counteracted the discontent of the emerging and developing countries of not being adequately supported in the costly conversion to renewable energies. Last but not least, the Western states hoped to intensify their influence on South Africa again. The country is by far its most important economic partner in sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, it has long strengthened cooperation with China and Russia in particular, and it contributes to intensifying cooperation between emerging emerging economies within the BRICS framework. The fact that it has brought the genocide proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice (IGH) in The Hague has now brought it even further into conflict with the leading Western powers. The JETP seemed to offer opportunities to get closer together again.
However, as reported, the JETP is not progressing as desired. Originally, it was planned to mobilize the $8.5 billion within three to five years. After two years, only projects with a total value of 308 million US dollars were in the implementation phase. 4] Just 30 million US dollars were spent on JETP targets in the particularly dependent province of Mpumalanga, which is particularly dependent on coal. According to reports, this has to do, among other things, with the fact that an overly large part of the JETP funds - we are talking about 97 percent - is granted in the form of loans, i.e. sooner or later have to be repaid, even if more than half of the loans are available on better terms than on the financial market. 5] As the reports state, the state-owned electricity producer Eskom in particular hesitates to accept loans - it seems, in fear of getting into trouble with repayment. In addition, the phase-out of coal should be socially acceptable. However, according to reports, this is not really the case either. For example, it is reported from Komati east of Johannesburg that after the conversion of the coal-fired power plant there into facilities for the promotion of renewable energies, unemployment rose massively. 6]
The JETP is – like so many other things – affected by the countless cancellations at home and abroad that the Trump administration is currently taking. On the 6th In March, the US government decided to leave the program. 7] On the one hand, this corresponds to the general line of the US government to cut spending on - especially development policy - measures abroad. On the other hand, it fits into the new US confrontation policy towards South Africa. On the 2nd In February, Trump wrote with regard to the South African land reform, Pretoria treated "certain classes of people" - meant white South Africans - "very badly". On the 6th Foreign Minister Marco Rubio announced that he would not attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg because Pretoria had put his G20 chairmanship under the motto "Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability". On the 7th In February, Trump stopped all support payments to South Africa and offered asylum to white South Africans. On the 14th In March, the Trump administration declared South Africa's ambassador Ebrahim Rasool a persona non grata. 8] On 23. In March, Trump reposted on X a statement by Elon Musk, according to which a "genocide of whites" is being committed in South Africa. It seems that Trump feels "personally offended" by the "persistent existence of a democratically governed" and "led by black people" state, a South African daily newspaper said on Monday.[ 9]
Germany and the EU are seeking to take advantage of the rapid deterioration in relations between South Africa and the USA. On 13. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President António Costa arrived in Cape Town for the first EU-South Africa summit in seven years. A general expansion of cooperation was decided. Specifically, the EU wants to mobilize around 4.7 billion euros to invest in infrastructure in South Africa - such as ports and railway lines - in the extraction of critical raw materials and in projects for the production and export of green hydrogen. 10] In addition, the expansion of the capacity for vaccine production is to be supported. Last but not least, it was said that the EU was examining whether it could intervene to at least partially replace the future failed support services from Washington for South Africa. On 19. In March, the EU finally announced that it, Germany, France and Great Britain would continue the JETP with South Africa and also in this case try to pay the funds that the United States had originally promised. 11] De facto, the Federal Republic of Germany and other European states currently have the chance to expand their influence in South Africa at the expense of the retreating USA. The only question is whether they can raise enough funds and capacity for hundreds of billions of euros in addition to the planned upgrading.
[1], [2] Helena Kreiensiek: Dirty black gold. taz.de 07/16/2024.
[3] France, Germany, UK, US and EU launch ground-breaking International Just Energy Transition Partnership with South Africa. ec.europa.eu 02.11.2021.
[4] Nick Hedley: As South Africa heads to the polls, voters await stalled “just energy transition”. climatechangenews.com 23.05.2024.
[5] Chloé Farand: Breakdown: Who is contributing what to South Africa's clean energy shift. climatechangenews.com 22.10.2022.
[6] Nick Hedley: As South Africa heads to the polls, voters await stalled “just energy transition”. climatechangenews.com 23.05.2024.
[7] Vivian Chime: US withdraws from coal-to-clean JETP deals for developing nations. climatechangenews.com 07.03.2025.
[8], [9] Stephen Grootes: Rasool expulsion sparks a diplomatic divide, hardens SA attitudes against Trump's US. dailymaverick.co.za 24.03.2025.
[10] Claudia Bröll, Thomas Gutschker: Together for "inclusive multilateralism". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 14.03.2025.
[11] Joint Statement from the International Partners Group on the US Withdrawal from the Just Energy Transition Partnership in South Africa. climate.ec.europa.eu 19.03.2025.