South Africa has announced that it will miss its 2030 emissions goals, but is committed to "net zero" by mid-century as it works to remove financial and other hurdles to roll out renewables. The new energy minister, Ramokgopa, stated that the country will not be able to meet these targets by 2030, but he added that a long horizon of 2050 would not be possible. Under the Paris Climate Accords, South Africa was committed to cutting emissions to between 350 and 420 million tonnes by 2030, from 442 million tonnes in 2020, on the way to net zero. Ramokgopa will meet with lenders and private power providers to address their frustrations at project delays, with the aim of accelerating investment into green energy and catching up on its climate commitments. South Africa is the world's most carbon-intensive major economy and its 15th biggest greenhouse gas emitter, higher than France, Italy, or Turkey. New policies he said would speed up the process include removing bureaucratic hurdles to existing private tenders, expropriating land from farmers holding up the power grid buildout, and re-pricing deals with power providers that failed to close after the Ukraine war jacked up component prices.
