Read the demands.

The Green New Eskom campaign and its vision was developed by the Climate Justice Coalition, a South African coalition of civil society, grassroots, trade union, and community-based organisations. The coalition has put forward this set of interconnected demands outlining their vision for transforming Eskom and South Africa’s energy sector.

1. A rapid and just transition to a more socially owned, renewable energy powered economy, providing clean, safe & affordable energy for all, with no worker or community left behind in the transition.
2. Put in place a robust just transition plan that invests in and protects workers & communities vulnerable in the transition to a zero-carbon future. We cannot leave workers and communities behind in this transition. They must be protected.
3. Remove the constraints on renewable energy put in place by the 2019 Integrated Resources Plan and instead transition as fast as possible to renewable energy. We must accelerate the transition in line with South Africa’s fair share of keeping warming to 1.5°C.
4. Policies and incentives to enable socially owned renewable energy so workers, communities, small-to-medium businesses, and families can own and benefit from clean energy. Gender, racial, and economic justice must guide these policies.
5. The development and implementation of green industrialisation policies, which enables South Africa to proudly produce renewable energy and associated components. Priority should also be given to vulnerable, coal-dependent, carbon-intensive regions.
   
6. Expand Eskom’s mandate to allow it to rapidly build renewable energy & energy storage. They must also make the investments needed to extend and upgrade the grid – allowing socially owned renewable energy to feed into the grid.
7. Ending harmful and regressive subsidies for coal, oil and fossil gas, and redirecting them to urgent needs like education, healthcare, energy access, and renewable energy. The taxpayer cannot keep bailing out polluting and uneconomic industries.
8. No new coal power – so-called “clean coal” is an expensive polluting lie. Just Medupi & Kusile power stations are projected to cost nearly R500 billion, and that’s without technologies to clean them up, which Eskom has said are simply too expensive.
9. No to fracking for fossil gas. Rather than polluting fossil gas, new gas plants should aim for renewable hydrogen and biogas, which can help balance the grid for renewables. South Africa and Sasol should become leaders in producing green hydrogen.
10. A mass rollout of solar panels; electric vehicles and accompanying infrastructure; affordable, electrified mass transit; smart grids; battery and storage technologies; and building efficiency retrofits especially for low-income houses; all with policies to encourage local production.
11. A massive skills, jobs, and training programme to create opportunities for the people of South Africa in the renewable energy economy and unlock One Million Climate Jobs. Women and youth empowerment must be a vital part of this program.
12. No to continued tariff hikes which are making electricity unaffordable and subsidizing corrupt and overpriced coal contracts. While Eskom does need to be able to cover its costs, South Africans should not be made to pay for the corruption and looting at Eskom.
13. Restructuring Eskom to do away with corruption and bloated, overpaid (mis)management. Eskom needs to put in place more transparent and accountable structures to ensure better public oversight, so that looting and corruption ends.
14. An audit of all energy supply contracts to recover costs on and end overpriced contracts – including the R14 trillion in overpriced coal contracts signed during 2008 loadshedding. We must also declare as odious the corruption riddled World Bank debt for Medupi.
15. Expand the insufficient basic free electricity access grant for low-income households and ensure all have access to sufficient reliable, affordable energy. We must protect, not disconnect and load shed, our most vulnerable citizens.
16. No exemptions to Eskom or Sasol for clean air regulations, minimum emission standards, or transparency on emissions data. We must strengthen regulations to ensure clean air for all, as argued in the Deadly Air or Umoya Obulalayo Case.
17. All communities impacted by mining and energy projects must have their free, prior and informed consent respected by government and corporations. A standard which must be enshrined in the law and respected in practice.
18. Beyond just energy, as the Cry of the Xcluded and the Climate Justice Coalition have both demanded, South Africa needs a radical Green New Deal which puts South Africans to work building a more socially and ecologically just future, tackling our deep inequality, unemployment, and poverty.

1. Coal Kills.

Eskom’s reliance on expensive, unreliable & polluting coal is killing us. Electricity tariff increases and load shedding are killing the South African economy and hurting the poor. Eskom’s unsustainable debt levels are draining tens of billions in taxpayer money and driving austerity. Its power is literally killing our people through air and water pollution. And as the biggest climate polluter in Africa, it is causing death and devastation across the world through climate change.

3. We Need A Just Transition.

If we are to transition to a renewable energy future, we cannot leave behind workers who have worked so hard to keep the lights on. We must protect workers and communities who depend on coal for their livelihoods. For those workers, a just transition is vital. It is not optional. Additionally, to ensure that renewable energy brings more benefits to the people of South Africa, we must pursue a more socially owned renewable energy future that puts the benefits, jobs, and ownership of energy more in the hands of the people.

5. For A Green Industrialisation.

A Green New Eskom can drive South Africa’s green industrialisation creating millions of decent jobs. Government and Eskom policy can ensure our communities, businesses, and factories are leading a program of green industrial development and building renewable energy at home.In addition to local production and manufacturing, we also need a mass rollout of solar panels; electric vehicles & charging infrastructure; affordable, electrified mass transit; smart grids; battery & storage technologies; & building efficiency retrofits especially for low-income houses.