A whopping 90% of South Africa’s electricity is from coal. That’s one of the highest rates worldwide. And with figures like that, it may seem like the nation doesn’t care about the climate crisis; however, that’s not entirely true. The court has kept climate demands in focus with rulings that require the government to consider environmental consequences.
For example, in 2017 it ruled that an “environmental authorization” could only be issued for a coal-fired power plant after the government had considered determinants such as:
“…how climate change will impact on its operation, through factors such as rising temperatures, diminishing water supply, and extreme weather patterns.”
An environmental authorization is one of the first things a power plant has to attain to proceed towards getting the project approved for construction. Later on, the company needs to get a water use license as well, which is applied separately.
Now, since South Africa has been having massive problems with water scarcity (following the worst regional drought of the century in Cape Town in 2018), the court issued another ruling that licenses for water use must take into consideration the risks of climate change. Global warming is projected to cause an increase in droughts and stress on water supplies. Read more…
