The South African government has received additional pledges, worth nearly $3.5-billion, in support of its Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP), increasing the overall envelope of concessional debt and grant funding to $11.9-billion.

The Presidency’s Rudi Dicks told the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) that Denmark and the Netherlands had combined their pledges with those of the International Partners Group (IPG) of France, Germany, the UK, the US and the European Union, which committed $8.5-billion to the JET IP in 2021.

Denmark has committed $165-million, $23.2-million in the form of grants, while the Netherlands has pledged an indicative $1-billion for a Green Hydrogen Fund and $169-million in grant finance.

Meanwhile, Spain has made a $2.1-billion commitment outside of the IPG framework, $15-million of which will be in the form of grants.

Dicks reported that the South African government was also in discussions with several other countries and donors on possible JET IP funding.

To date, €600-million had been advanced to the National Treasury from German development bank KfW and French development bank AfD in the form of a concessional policy loan and Dicks said about R600-million in grant funding had also been approved.

The bulk of the funding would flow, however, only once the JET IP implementation plan was finalised, which would outline specific electricity, new energy vehicle and green hydrogen projects for the period covering 2023 to 2027.

Dicks said the implementation plan had been broadly canvassed and its compilation was well advanced.

A draft JET IP implementation plan would be presented to the PCC commissioners on October 18 for their input.

Thereafter, it would be submitted to the JET IP Government Steering Committee before the end of October. The steering committee would provide recommendations to the JET IP Inter-Ministerial Committee, chaired by Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy, ahead of submission to Cabinet in November.

The timing indicates that government aims to approve the implementation plan prior to the start of COP28, which is scheduled to take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from November 30 to December 12.