In South Africa, our public finance institutions are financing climate wrecking projects. We have been campaigning to make this stop, and for these institutions to use our money to fund a just transition to renewable energy.
On Wednesday the 17th of March, together with a group of committed organisations we held a roundtable discussion with parliamentarians on this issue of public finance and climate change. Our goal was simple – to show parliamentarians what our public finance institutions (PFIs) are doing, and remind them of the responsibility they have to keep an eye on these institutions.
One of our biggest challenges has been that PFIs like the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Industrial Development Corporation do not show clearly and publicly which investments they have made, and which they are considering. This is really important, as even if they only consider a project, it means that other financial institutions will sit up and take note. In the middle of a climate crisis, we need to stop the money flowing to climate wrecking fossil fuel projects. It is critical that PFIs commit to not even considering funding fossil fuel projects.
During the roundtable we explained this to members of parliament, and highlighted two examples of the projects that PFIs are funding or considering funding that should not go ahead. You can read about these projects and find more information on the event in the briefing we produced for it and sent to parliamentarians.
Click here to download the briefing
We also released an op-ed that was published on the Sunday Times website – please share it!
Our next step is to follow up with parliamentarians on our request to:
- check in with these PFIs and call for greater transparency,
- reconsider funding of the projects we highlighted,
- commit to stopping funding fossil fuels and instead double down on funding a just transition to renewable energy.
You can read more about our public finance campaign, and sign up for updates on our website. Huge thanks to our partner organisations:
- Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office
- African Climate Reality Project
- Life After Coal Campaign
- Fossil Free South Africa
- Justiça Ambiental (Friends of the Earth Mozambique)