Standard Bank signs climate change, financing of emissions information resolution

After extensive engagement with shareholder activism organisations Just Share and Aeon Investment Management, financial services firm Standard Bank has agreed to the wording of a shareholder-proposed nonbinding, advisory resolution that Standard Bank, over a three-year timeframe, provides shareholders with increasingly detailed information about its financed emissions from oil and gas. Financed emissions are the greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions that banks and investors finance through their loans and investments. The resolution has been tabled for voting ahead of the bank’s May 31 annual general meeting (AGM).
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Clean coal a ‘figment of the imagination’, says Olver

The concept of clean coal is a figment of the imagination, according to science, said   Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) Secretariat executive director Dr Crispian Olver on April 26. “There is no such thing,” he said, speaking at the PCC-JSE Financial Sector Forum on Just Transition Framework at the JSE.
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Seifsa, Eskom discuss private generation as key to solving South Africa’s power challenges

Industry organisation the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) this week held a meeting with State-owned power utility Eskom, during which greater private sector investment into electricity generation capacity was identified as a key enabler to resolving the electricity supply challenge facing the country. Eskom does not see its future role as being one where it will be the primary source of new large-scale generation capacity, as its balance sheet simply does not permit this, Seifsa notes.
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Progress being made to clear way for 4.5 GW of distributed generation, Presidency assures

Constraints to implementing a more streamlined registration process for distributed generation power plants below 100 MW have been fully scoped and are being addressed systematically under the aegis of Operation Vulindlela, the head of The Presidency’s project management office has confirmed. In an interview with Engineering News, Rudi Dicks reports that the issues are being tackled during weekly meetings at which private sector stakeholders, Eskom and responsible government departments are present, including mineral resources and energy, forestry fisheries and the environment, public enterprises and the National Treasury.
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Europe’s energy rush spurs Sasol to quicken green hydrogen plan

Europe’s scramble to find new sources of energy to reduce its reliance on Russia has given Sasol, South Africa’s biggest fuel producer, a new purpose to accelerate its green hydrogen plans. Sasol is focusing on green hydrogen — made by machines called electrolyzers that are powered by the wind and sun — in South Africa’s northwest coast. The company is doing a feasibility study that it expects to complete in two years, according to Sasol’s CEO Fleetwood Grobler.
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KZN needs R1.9bn to repair infrastructure damaged in floods

The KwaZulu-Natal government will need more than R1.9-billion to complete work to refurbish what the recent floods have destroyed. Premier Sihle Zikalala made the announcement during an update on the response to the floods on April 24.
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Investec launches first green bond

Banking and wealth management firm Investec has reaffirmed its commitment to funding a sustainable future by issuing its first green bond, which is backed by a number of Investec’s flagship renewable energy projects, all of which are helping to create a cleaner future for South Africa.

The bonds raised R1-billion under Investec’s Domestic Medium-Term Note bond programme, which was 3.8 times oversubscribed – revealing significant appetite among institutional investors who want to make a positive impact in terms of their environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments.

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Documentary seeks to ignite conversation on Mpumalanga’s just transition

A new documentary, highlighting both the fears and potential of pursuing a so-called just transition in the coalfields of South Africa, has been released on YouTube. The 30-minute video includes interviews with community members, workers and businesspeople from the Steve Tshwete and Emalahleni municipalities, in Mpumalanga, whose lives and livelihoods are currently inextricably linked to coal.
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We owe the board and management of Eskom our full support, Ramaphosa asserts

“We owe the board and management of Eskom our full support as they work to turn the utility around,” President Cyril Ramaphosa writes in his weekly newsletter. Published against the backdrop of a recent bout of Stage 4 load-shedding and fresh finger-pointing over who is to blame for intensifying load-shedding, Ramaphosa insists that the crisis has its roots in events that pre-date the current Eskom leadership.
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Load-shedding to be suspended at 22:00 on Friday

Load shedding will be suspended at 22:00 on Friday, Eskom announced. That said, the utility cautioned that the system remains severely constrained and volatile.
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