The responses were varied, but the vast majority of interviewees expressed a lack of ease with the terminology used and the appropriateness of any single definition of the Just Transition for the South African context. [...] It is possible that this overly optimistic interpretation of what needs to take place is at least in part the result of the way in which the transition has been ‘marketed’ – also globally, but Page 5 of 26 specifically in South Africa, where the transition is purported to be the ‘silver bullet’ that will solve all of the country’s social and economic ills. [...] While conceptually, the two types of climate benchmarks are closely linked to the objectives of the Paris Agreement, the TEG wants to clearly acknowledge the fact that the current state of methodologies and available issuer-level data does not allow for an evident and irrefutable conversion of climate scenarios into detailed and informed portfolio construction methodologies at the time of writing. [...] In this regard, the overarching sentiment of discussions conducted is that it is unadvisable to initiate the development of new structures in the absence of a thorough review of the applicability to the cause of those already established. [...] It is the hope of the paper’s authors that this research has gone some way to shine some light on some of the real and perceived constraints to Just Transition finance in South Africa, and that a selection of the presented recommendations might be further investigated and ultimately implemented, so that Just Transition finance might flow more freely through the local market as a result.
Authors
- Pages
- 26
- Published in
- South Africa
