South Africa And The UK's Climate Change Plans

Over the last two weeks, 196 countries met at the UN summit in Paris to agree on a new global agreement on climate change. In preparation, countries were asked to pledge intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs)—in effect their national plans to achieve emissions reduction.  This note will examine the INDCs filed by South Africa and the United Kingdom, and in turn provide an outline of how these countries intend to tackle climate change.

South Africa

Setting the scene

South Africa's INDC (SA INDC) highlights that South Africa is a developing country, whose overriding priority is to end poverty and inequality. It relies heavily on coal, with a fleet of old and inefficient coal-fired power plants that are nearing the end of their design life-cycles. South Africa's National Development Plan provides a "2030 vision" for transforming South Africa's energy mix—replacing  coal with new clean technology—and this provides the context for the INDC.