Eskom CEO Andrè de Ruyter describes the $8.5-billion (R131-billion) financing package announced at COP26 as “an important first step” in light of the fact that South Africa’s energy transition is expected to require investments of between $30- and $35-billion over the coming 15 years. He says that funding – pledged as part of a political agreement concluded with France, Germany, the UK, the US and the European Union – will support a socially and economically just energy transition in South Africa, while enabling the country to meet its new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets.