South Africa's greenhouse gas emissions
South Africa's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are significant, primarily due to its reliance on coal as the major energy source. Historical factors, including extensive economic development and deforestation, have contributed to the country's environmental challenges, with only about 1 percent of its land covered by forest today. Over the years, emissions have increased substantially; for instance, in 2014, South Africa emitted approximately 593.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, ranking it among the top global emitters. The energy sector, particularly the state-owned utility Eskom, is responsible for a substantial portion of these emissions.
Post-apartheid, the government introduced various policies aimed at reducing GHG emissions, such as the Reconstruction and Development Programme and commitments under international agreements like the Paris Agreement. However, challenges remain, including a lack of infrastructure investment and socio-economic issues like poverty and inequality that continue to impact environmental policies. South Africa's commitment to transitioning to renewable energy sources and implementing carbon reduction strategies reflects its ongoing struggle to balance economic growth with environmental sustainability.
South Africa's greenhouse gas emissions
Historical and Political Context
Native South Africans were immigrants from other parts of Africa. Since 1652, South Africa was occupied by Europeans for over 300 years. The power shifted between the Dutch and the British through all these years and sometime was shared by the two parties. In 1652, the Dutch East India Company founded Cape Town. In 1806, the British took over Cape Town. The Boers, descendants of the Dutch settlers, founded their own republics in the South African interior. In 1899-1902, the Boers and the British fought the Anglo-Boer War for the control of South Africa’s diamonds and gold. The British won the war. In 1910, South Africa became a British dominion. The Boers later negotiated with the British and gained hegemony.
Under Europeans’ control, racial discrimination and racial segregation were generally practiced. The infamous policies of apartheid were officially made into laws in 1948 and were enforced for nearly forty years. Laws divided South African residents into racial groups including black, colored, Asian, and white. The whites lived in the white area, which covered more than 80 percent of South African land. Nonwhites had to carry permits when entering white areas. Laws also segregated educational standards, job categories, and public facilities. Through the “homeland” system established in 1959, blacks were deprived of their citizenship and forced to live in the so-called tribal homelands, which occupied small and economically unproductive areas of the country. Uprisings and protests against apartheid were ruthlessly repressed. The anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela was arrested and jailed. He was released from the jail in 1990 after serving 28 years. In 1994, South Africa held the first election in which blacks had the right to vote. Nelson Mandela, representing the African National Congress (ANC), won the election and became the first black president of South Africa. Since then, the ANC has become the governing party of South Africa.
Impact of South African Policies on Climate Change
In the last four decades, South Africa has lost a large area of natural habitat mainly due to extensive economic development and deforestation during the nineteenth century. The early European settlers exploited South Africa’s forest brutally. Nowadays forest only covers approximately 1 percent of South Africa. Coal is the major energy resource in South Africa. In the past, South Africa had limited access to foreign oil due to anti-apartheid sanctions. Sasol Ltd., a partly state-owned company, built several coal-to-liquids (CTL) plants. These CTL plants became big greenhouse (GHG) emitters. Sasol was the forty-fifth largest single emitters of CO2 on Earth between 1988 and 2015.
After 1994’s democratic election, the South African government implemented the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). RDP intended to meet people’s basic needs and create jobs through public works. In 1996, a new economic policy called Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) was adopted. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the South African government started to promote independent power producers (IPPs) in the South African electricity market. However, the government did not make much progress on these policies due to the lack of investment in infrastructure.
South Africa as a GHG Emitter
According to the Climate Analysis Indicators Tool, in 1990, South Africa emitted 303.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in GHGs. Annual GHG emission increased to 348.0 MtCO2e, 383.6 MtCO2e, and 593.4 MtCO2e in 2000, 2005, and 2014, respectively. Its GHG emissions ranked seventeenth, nineteenth, and twentieth among the twenty top GHG emitters worldwide in 1990, 2000, and 2005, respectively. In 1990s and 2000s, South Africa’s annual GHG emission contributed about 1.1 to 1.2 percent of total GHG emissions worldwide. The energy industry contributes most of the GHG emissions in South Africa. The state-owned utility, Eskom, contributed to about 45 percent of the nation’s GHG emissions in 2016. Eskom provided 90 percent of the country’s electricity, as of 2017.
The international community agreed to address global climate change and drafted the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and the subsequent Kyoto Protocol. South Africa ratified the Convention in 1997. In 2001, the Seventh Conference of the Parties (COP-7) to the UNFCCC reached agreement to facilitate the accession of the Kyoto Protocol, and South Africa acceded to the Kyoto Protocol in 2002. South Africa is classified as a non-Annex I country, meaning it was not obliged to adhere to a commitment to reduce GHG emissions.
In 2016, South Africa ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement, making a voluntary commitment to peak at 398 to 614 MtCO2e around 2025, plateau for a decade, and then mitigate its emissions.
Summary and Foresight
South Africa is the most economically advanced country in Africa. Its economy has heavily depended on energy-intensive industries. Although its government has often been commended for taking active roles in controlling climate change, GHG emissions still increased significantly in the early twenty-first century. The government made many ambitious plans to reduce GHG emissions, such as generating 15 percent of electricity from renewable resources by 2020; conducting a National Greening Strategy through forestry development; promoting energy-efficient lighting; and reducing the use of coal for energy. For example, South Africa committed to “greening” the 2010 World Cup by conserving water and energy and reducing GHG emissions. A carbon tax, carbon budgeting for business, and carbon capture and storage have also been proposed.
Although apartheid has been replaced by multiracial democracy, consequences of apartheid still influence South Africa’s politics and society. Elections still show a major racial divide in the country. The income inequality between white and black remains significant. The governing party has stressed its commitment to economic development and environmental protection. However, the nation is still facing serious challenges such as poverty, unemployment, environmental degradation, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Key Facts
Population: 54,841,552 (July 2017 estimate)Area: 1,219,090 square kilometersGross domestic product (GDP): $765.6 billion (purchasing power parity, 2017 estimate)Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e): 303.2 in 1990; 593.4 in 2014Kyoto Protocol status: Acceded July 31, 2002
Bibliography
McKinley, James C. “Global Warming: Around the Globe, Big Worries and Small Signs of Progress.” The New York Times, December 1, 1997. Discusses South Africa as the most economically advanced country in Africa and a major contributor to the continent’s GHG emissions. Africa’s least developed nations contribute very few GHGs but suffer the most from climate change.
Riley, Tess. "Just 100 Companies Responsible for 71% of Global Emissions, Study Says." The Guardian, 10 July 2017, www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change. Accessed 15 Oct. 2018.
Scholes, R. J., and M. R. Van der Merwe. “Greenhouse Gas Emissions from South Africa.” South African Journal of Science 92, no. 5 (1996): 220-222. Provides an overview of historical trends in South Africa’s GHG emissions.
"South Africa’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC)." INDC, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 25 Sept. 2015, www4.unfccc.int/Submissions/INDC/Published%20Documents/South%20Africa/1/South%20Africa.pdf. Accessed 15 Oct. 2018.
South Africa. Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. South Africa’s Review Report for the Sixteenth Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. New York: United Nations, 2008. Reflects the views and opinions of an inclusive group of South African stakeholders who represent economic, social, and environmental perspectives on sustainable development.
Winkler, Harald, ed. “Energy Policies for Sustainable Development in South Africa.” Cape Town, South Africa: Energy Research Centre, University of Cape Town, 2006. Profile of energy and sustainable development in South Africa that uses modeling tools and indicators to assess future policy options for the country.
Winkler, Harald, et al. “Multi-project Baselines for Potential Clean Development Mechanism Projects in the Electricity Sector in South Africa.” Journal of Energy in Southern Africa 12, no. 4 (2001): 449-457. Contributes to a larger research effort coordinated by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Discusses options for a single baseline or different baselines for clean development mechanism investment in South Africa.