JOHANNESBURG, September 22 Reuters : South Africa's Cabinet has adopted a more ambitious emissions reduction goal ahead of the United Nations Climate Conference in November, said the country's environment department on Wednesday.
The biggest emitter of greenhouse gases aims to aim at emission in Africa to a range of 350 - 420 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent Mt CO 2 e by 2030.
That compares with an earlier draft target of 398 - 440 Mt CO2 e released by the Environment Department in March, which a climate commission recommended by President Cyril Ramaphosa should be improved upon.
The Global Carbon Atlas estimates that South Africa emitted around 480 Mt CO2 in 2019.
The updated target forms part of a so called NDC Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) which will be submitted in the buildup to the UN COP 26 conference in Glasgow.
The NDC represents South Africa’s contribution to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change, the Environment Department said in a statement.
Major South African polluters include state-owned power utility Eskom, which generate the vast majority of the country's power by burning coal and fuel and chemical producer Sasol.
Under Ramaphosa, who become head of state in February 2018, the government committed to take swifter action to fight climate change and unveiled reforms aimed at embracing power generation from renewable sources.
Eskom is pitching for billions of dollars of funding to help finance its plans to move away from coal and towards renewable energy. It hopes to announce a financing deal at COP 26 and is talking to the U.S. British, French and German governments as well as the World Bank about funding.
On Wednesday Sasol said it had inspected its 2030 emissions reduction target after it came under pressure from investors and environmental groups.