As host of the current United Nations Climate Conference, South Africa is under the spotlight and under fire for what many are calling a “dirty energy” policy. More than 90 percent of South African electricity is produced from coal - believed to be the worst contributor to greenhouse gases and climate change. Activists are calling for the government to develop alternative and clean supplies of energy.
South Africa is among the top five coal producing and exporting countries in the world. And, with voracious energy needs, South Africa relies almost exclusively on coal to power its homes, businesses and economy.
And, the government here has plans to grow its coal dependency in the short -term by opening another two new coal-powered energy stations.
This has environmentalists worried that there is no view to evolving a clean energy policy. And, as host of the U.N. Climate Conference in the Indian Ocean city, Durban, South Africa is attracting scrutiny like never before.
There have protests in Durban against all kinds of so called anti-green policies. South Africa is being lumped in with some of the world’s largest carbon polluters, like the United States, Russia and China.
Professor Patrick Bond, a leading academic in Durban and a clean energy activist, says he had hoped that democratic South Africa would reverse its dependence on what he calls dirty energy, but that this has not happened.
“Like the apartheid system, the use of coal, like black labor, was terribly destructive by the big companies that set up apartheid to serve their profitability interests,” said Bond. “So, we have never taken into consideration the environmental costs. It’s a long legacy that we thought post-apartheid could change.”
He says South Africa has failed to underwrite job-creating renewable energy systems since the first democratic elections in 1994.
South Africa is among the top five coal producing and exporting countries in the world. And, with voracious energy needs, South Africa relies almost exclusively on coal to power its homes, businesses and economy.
And, the government here has plans to grow its coal dependency in the short -term by opening another two new coal-powered energy stations.
This has environmentalists worried that there is no view to evolving a clean energy policy. And, as host of the U.N. Climate Conference in the Indian Ocean city, Durban, South Africa is attracting scrutiny like never before.
There have protests in Durban against all kinds of so called anti-green policies. South Africa is being lumped in with some of the world’s largest carbon polluters, like the United States, Russia and China.
Professor Patrick Bond, a leading academic in Durban and a clean energy activist, says he had hoped that democratic South Africa would reverse its dependence on what he calls dirty energy, but that this has not happened.
“Like the apartheid system, the use of coal, like black labor, was terribly destructive by the big companies that set up apartheid to serve their profitability interests,” said Bond. “So, we have never taken into consideration the environmental costs. It’s a long legacy that we thought post-apartheid could change.”
He says South Africa has failed to underwrite job-creating renewable energy systems since the first democratic elections in 1994.
No comments:
Post a Comment