South Africa, Indonesia get $1bn to close coal plants

South Africa and Indonesia will receive a combined $1-billion from the Climate Investment Funds to replace some of their coal-fired power plants with renewable energy facilities, part of global efforts to cut planet-warming emissions. The allocation of $500-million each to the coal-dependent countries will come in the form of “concessional,” or low cost, finance, the World Bank-affiliated fund said in a statement Thursday.