Kwazulu-Natal

Western Cape

Limpopo

Mpumalanga

Eastern Cape

Northern Cape

Free State

North-West

Gauteng

South Africa

To achieve mitigation, they will increase investment in hybrid vehicles 20% by 2030.

To achieve mitigation, they will invest $513 billion in electric vehicles between 2010 and 2050

NDC commits S.A. to peak emissions at a specific range between 2025 and 2050.

2009 pledge to reduce emissions 34% by 2020 and 42% by 2025.

Contribute to national emissions reductions by 5% through the transport sector by 2050.

Emissions are assumed to peak between 2020 and 2025

Expect to peak or plateau in emissions by 2025 and then decline.

They expect a 30% reduction in energy intensity by 2030 against 2000 levels.

By 2030 they expect a 33% reduction in energy consumption based on a 2000 base year.

By 2030 they expect a weighted reduction of 37% in energy consumption

By 2030 they expect a 15% energy savings against 2000 levels when accounting for structural change between sub-sectors.

Energy savings of 39% against 2000 base year.

Reudction of energy consumption by 29% against 2000 base year, average of sector improvements

The vision of the GTS is to substantially reduce GHG emissions and other environmental impacts from the transport sector by 5% by 2050.

Average total electricity distribution losses below 8% by 2030, and average non-technical losses below 0.5%.

A total of 10 PJ of electricity derived from grid-connected cogeneration plant by 2030.

A 20% reduction in the average vehicle intensity (measured in MJ/km) of the South African road vehicle fleet relative to a 2015 baseline.

A total electricity saving of 1 PJ through officially supported projects by 2030.

A cumulative total annual energy saving of 40 PJ arising from specific energy saving intervention undertaken by mining companies.

A 16% reduction in weighted mean specific energy consumption in manufacturing by 2030 relative to a 2015 baseline.

A 37% reduction in the specific energy consumption (measured as GJ annual energy consumption per m2 of lettable/habitable floor area) by 2030 relative to a 2015 baseline.

A 20% improvement in the average energy performance of the residential building stock by 2030 relative to a 2015 baseline, as measured by the energy consumption (excluding plug loads) per square meter of habitable space.

A 33% reduction in the average specific energy consumption of new household appliances purchased in South Africa by 2030 relative to a 2015 baseline.

A 30% reduction in the fossil fuel intensity of municipality vehicle fleets (measured as total fuel consumption by municipal vehicles per head of population served).

A 20% reduction in the energy intensity (measured as energy consumption per head of population served) of municipal service provision. The specific services included are streetlighting, traffic lights, water supply and wastewater treatment.

A 50% reduction in the specific energy consumption (measured as GJ annual energy consumption per m2 of occupied floor area) by 2030 relative to a 2015 baseline.

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Eastern and Southern Africa are highly vulnerable to climate change, facing recurrent droughts, floods, heatwaves, and increasingly erratic rainfall that intensify water stress and land degradation. These climate stresses are compounded by rapid population growth, projected to rise from around 749 million in 2023 to nearly 964 million by 2050, placing growing pressure on already overstretched infrastructure. In 2023, around 365 million people lacked access to electricity and 580 million lacked access to clean cooking, severely constraining adaptation, productivity, and health outcomes across the region.

The ASCENT-GREEN project  aims to support climate-vulnerable communities across 21 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa by catalysing private-sector delivery of distributed renewable energy, clean cooking, and productive-use energy. It seeks to increase climate resilience, drive economic development, and reduce emissions across some of the region's most remote and fragile contexts.

Structured around three components, the project will establish a regional energy access financing facility providing affordable lending, results-based financing, and technical assistance, prioritizing rural households, fragile, conflict-affected populations, small and medium-sized enterprises and women-owned enterprises; develop regional de-risking facilities including a risk-sharing facility and a carbon risk mitigation facility to crowd in private capital; and establish a Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)-led regional platform to coordinate policy, technical assistance, and knowledge sharing across participating countries.

Through financing instruments that address barriers such as affordability, risk perception, and scaling up, the project will mobilise significantly larger private flows and accelerate market transformations, enabling far greater reach. It is expected to directly benefit 28.8 million people and indirectly reach a further 13.8 million, supporting improved access to energy services and enhanced resilience across participating countries.

The project aims to support four countries–Ghana, Kenya, Solomon Islands, and South Africa–to each prepare and submit Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs) and combined Biennial Transparency Report / National Communications (BTR/NCs) that will comply with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement (PA) reporting requirements, while responding to national development goals.

It is expected that USD 2.8 trillion will be needed between 2020 and 2030 for Africa to implement its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Yet, in 2019 and 2020, Africa received only 12 to 15 per cent of the required investments for climate action. The share of private climate finance in total climate finance is relatively lower than in any other emerging market globally. The main risks that deter investors from committing to African private equity include the perception of a weak exit window, currency risk, a less attractive risk/return profile than other markets, and political risk.

GCF’s equity investment in NVIIII, a USD 200 million venture capital fund, will mobilise funding for African climate ventures. The venture fund aims to support early and growth-stage companies that promote a clean, inclusive, and sustainable development path for Africa. Investments will be channelled into companies focused on three main themes: services that enable adaptation and resilience; clean technology for decarbonising economic growth; and innovative climate technology for natural resources.

Focusing on Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Egypt, this initiative aims to scale affordable climate solutions from other markets. Each of these countries has a large climate-vulnerable population, making it essential to provide capital for companies in these areas to scale up investments in mitigation and adaptation. Through successful investments, NVIII seeks to establish a strong climate-tech innovation ecosystem by engaging key stakeholders and mobilising private sector capital.

It was developed under GCF’s Project-specific Assessment Approach (PSAA).

South Africa faces significant climate change challenges threatening water resources, agriculture, biodiversity and livelihoods. Droughts, extreme rainfall events, and wildfires have increased significantly over the past five decades. These climate hazards severely affect local livelihoods through reduced water availability, declining agricultural productivity, and a diminished capacity of natural ecosystems to buffer the effects of floods and droughts. The country faces limitations in coordination and capacity to implement ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) interventions at scale, sufficient resources, and inclusive community engagement.

To address these challenges, Eco-DRR offers integrated, nature-based solutions that restore and protect ecological infrastructure while reducing climate-related risks. By enhancing ecosystem resilience, these approaches help combat land degradation, support sustainable livelihoods and strengthen community capacity.

The project has three components: 1)  integrated landscape management to enhance the resilience of ecological infrastructure and climate-vulnerable communities in four district municipalities; 2) transformative disaster preparedness and response to reduce the adverse impacts of climate-induced hazards on built infrastructure and climate-vulnerable communities; and 3) creation of an enabling environment through a strengthened evidence base and improved learning and knowledge management to enhance private and public-sector investment in Eco-DRR.

The Eco-DRR project originated due to Readiness grant support and received support from the Project Preparation Facility (PPF) for detailed project design and feasibility work.

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