South Africa’s energy minister encouraged investment in technology that could potentially prolong the use of coal by mitigating emissions while a visiting delegation of rich nations were working on a plan to end the nation’s dependence on the fossil fuel. The call by Mineral and Energy Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe at a mining investment conference comes as envoys from the US, UK, Germany, France and the European Union meet with South African ministers, labour and business leaders around a $5-billion fund to reduce the country’s dependence on coal.