This week, about 450 Public Finance institutions including South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) will get together for the first time in history at the Finance in Common summit to discuss recovery from COVID-19 and the climate crisis.

At this summit, there will be an opportunity for leading public finance institutions to launch a joint commitment to end fossil fuel finance. This will allow them to increase their support for a just transition to renewable energy and align their financing with the Paris Climate Agreement.

Between 2016 and 2018 South Africa’s Public finance institutions provided roughly R2.2 Billion to support oil, gas, and coal. It is time for institutions like the DBSA and IDC to step up and support South Africa’s transition away from fossil fuels. They can shed off their climate laggard status by increasing the level of ambition towards a clean energy future with social, economic, and climate justice at the center of the transition away from fossil fuels.

It has never been more urgent for our public money to be spent on what ordinary people need most – an equitable, sustainable, and just recovery from COVID-19. So please don’t forget to watch the video below and then send a tweet to DBSA and IDC asking them to commit to stop financing fossil fuels.

We are at a very crucial stage in history where decisions made by governments and financial institutions today will shape our society, economy, health, and climate for decades to come.