Civil society calls for public hearings on RMIPPPP

Civil society organisations are calling for public hearings into the decision by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to include projects by Karpowership among the preferred bidders for the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producers (RMIPPP). Environmental justice organisation the Green Connection says it has been very vocal, adding its voice to the public outcry, amid concerns about the choice of emergency power, which will see South Africa tied to fossil fuels for another 20 years.
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Clean, affordable energy still not accessible to the poor

The transformative role of clean, safe and affordable energy in reducing poverty and inequality, and in improving the quality of life of poor South African households as envisaged in the 1998 Energy White Paper, has failed to materialise to any significant degree, says State institution and research developer Public Affairs Research Institute (Pari) senior researcher Dr Tracy Ledger.

In the second working paper on energy and society, she reveals that the overwhelming reason for this failure is the collapse of energy policy and governance, and the absence of effective oversight of how local municipalities have actually delivered energy services to households.

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Carbon emissions set to surge in 2021 as coal rebound eclipses record renewables growth

Global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could surge by 1.5-billion tonnes in 2021 to 33-billion tonnes, reversing most of last year’s decline caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, as rebounding coal demand in the electricity sector more than offsets record renewables deployments. This forecast is made in a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report, which states that the expected 5% increase in CO2 emissions will represent the biggest yearly increase since 2010 and the second largest in history.
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