South Africa plans jail time, fines under new emissions rules

South Africa will seek jail time, fines and higher taxes for breaches of proposed rules to govern carbon emissions that will apply to almost all sectors of the economy. The proposed regulations, due to take effect at the beginning of next year, will see the setting of so-called carbon budgets for emitters of climate-warning greenhouse gases. A failure to meet reporting requirements could see executives imprisoned, while exceeding emission limits may trigger a higher carbon-tax rate. “We are the only ones that have this price across our whole economy” with the exception of waste and agriculture, said Jarredine Morris, co-head of the Africa Office of Carbon Trust, a carbon emissions consultancy. It will mean “we really have a way to have industry to start to do things rather than kick the can down the road,” she said.
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South Africa urged to firm up developmental vision for universal electricity access

A leading advocate for the provision of free basic electricity (FBE) to poor South African households has welcomed moves by government to pursue its universal access goal through a “developmental” lens but believes more still needs to be done to firm up what affordable access means and the best ways of achieving that objective. In his Budget Vote speech, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced that government’s revised universal access strategy would reframe electrification as a developmental and rights-based obligation rather than a legacy infrastructure backlog.
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