Nov. 7 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Germany, the United States, France and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Union, have signed a declaration to promote an alliance for a “fair, ambitious and sustainable” energy transition in South Africa, which has also ratified the initiative, within the of the XXVII UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties held in Egypt.
“Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, launched a new investment plan for a just energy transition on November 7 during a summit of heads of state and government (at) COP27,” they explained in a joint statement.
This plan will provide financing in three specific areas: energy, electric vehicles and green hydrogen. The total amount amounts to 98,000 million dollars (97.7 million euros) over five years.
For the moment, the signatory countries have committed to 8,500 million in a first phase of the program, which also includes subsidies, preferential loans and investment instruments
and shared risk.
“I wish to congratulate President Ramaphosa on the progress made in the partnership for a just energy transition in South Africa. A year after COP26, South Africa, the UK and our friends in the International Partners Group have shown our true desire to make transformations
to put an end to climate change,” said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
For his part, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, has highlighted that they support initiatives in clean energy and infrastructure that allow “providing minors and affected populations with the necessary help” for said transition.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has also spoken along the same lines, saying that it will make it possible to strengthen “the country’s energy security, green its energy mix and
to serve as a point of reference for the other countries of the world”, in order to “leave no one behind”.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has also welcomed the initiative, while the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has stressed that it is “an ambitious start that will have to be followed by more efforts”.
