While there has been “very positive engagement” in the lead up to COP26, power utility Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter stresses that the coal value chains and communities that surround its coal-fired generation “cannot be left in the lurch” as foreign governments look to support South Africa in its just energy transition. If that were to happen, De Ruyter says, “socioeconomic misery and ghost towns” will be left behind and unemployment figures will worsen.