The Western Cape provincial government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Business Initiative (NBi) on Thursday afternoon, to establish a new climate and economic development partnership. This initiative was being supported by the Danish government.

In his keynote address at the event, Western Cape Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism Minister Dr Ivan Meyer highlighted that climate change was a permanent item on the agenda for all Western Cape provincial Cabinet meetings. The province’s government also had an established framework for interdepartmental cooperation regarding climate change.

“We have established a water and energy council,” he pointed out. “This part of the country [has] the fastest growing renewable energy [sector] in South Africa. We are thankful for renewable energy lessons from Denmark. We are inspired by lessons from Denmark.”

The priority of the provincial government is economic growth and jobs creation. His target is to achieve provincial GDP growth of 5%/y by 2035.

He further pointed out that South Africa now had a Climate Change Act. Under that, all three levels of government had to create climate change governance frameworks. The Western Cape government had, he noted, already established its one.

The MoU had been developed over a period of years, reported NBi environment head Alex McNamara.

The Western Cape government and the NBi had been cooperating in informal partnerships for many years, added Western Cape Economic Development and Tourism Department head Jo-Ann Johnston. The development of this MoU had been supported by funding from the Danish government, totalling R20-million so far. Among other things, this had funded study trips to Denmark.

The experience of Denmark showed that one could adopt renewable energy, reduce the use of fossil fuels, and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions while maintaining economic growth and assuring affordable energy, highlighted Danish Parliament Climate, Energy and Utilities Committee chairperson Rasmus Horn Langhoff. In Denmark, climate action has taken the form of public-private partnerships, and the role of the private sector is essential. Stakeholder engagement in climate policy making is also essential.  “Countries must work together to share best practices.”

The NBi sought to make the energy transition inclusive, as South Africa had a history of exclusion, explained NBi senior programme manager: economic inclusion Dr Anthony Gewer. This meant involving small and medium-sized enterprises in the townships, and ensuring inclusive skills development. The NBi was intermediating between the formal business sector and small township businesses. The idea was to get the latter involved in the supply chains for clean energy projects. It was also partnering with technical vocational education and training colleges in Atlantis, Khayelitsha and Vredenburg, to establish Enterprise Development Hubs at their campuses, as well as to ensure the development of skills appropriate to the just energy transition.

“We need value chains that are growing, business opportunities that are growing,” he affirmed. There was also a need for a shared vision of what a just transition actually meant.