On Thursday, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the country will only accept the hefty green deal offer from rich countries if only it fits the country’s own good terms.
Earlier in November, the US, Britain, France, Germany, and the EU offered a massive package of USD8.5 billion in the initial funding to help South Africa transition from coal to greener energy.
"This commitment from international partners does not mean we need to accept the offer, as such, or that we need to accept any unfavorable terms especially if the financing arrangements could impact negatively on the public fiscus of our country," Ramaphosa said.
He elaborated that the offer would have to be in the form of grants and that any loans would need to have concessionary rates.
The funding would be supporting the heavily-debted state-owned power utility Eskom and to cut South Africa’s over-reliance on coal-fired power plants.
Other than that, the funding is earmarked for job creation, electric vehicles, and developing a new green hydrogen sector without compromising the livelihood of coal workers.
South Africa is the world's 12th biggest emitter of climate-warming gases. It hopes the funding would help it deliver on a more ambitious pledge to reduce emissions by 2030.
