Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) has engaged positively on renewable energy policy and on the transition away from coal towards renewables in the South African energy mix. However, the organization also appears to support fossil gas as a transition fuel, and has been unsupportive of the country’s Carbon Tax act.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: BLSA’s top-line positions are limited to statements by BLSA CEO Busisiwe Mavuso. In a July 2024 CEO Newsletter, Mavuso appeared to support greenhouse gas emissions reductions in line with limiting warming to 1.5°C. Mavuso also supported the COP process in a November 2023 CEO Newsletter. BLSA does not appear to explicitly support the Paris Agreement or the need for government regulation to respond to climate change.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: BLSA has positively engaged on South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) and solar power tax incentives, however it has engaged negatively on other policies in the past, including the South African Carbon Tax. BLSA has supported tax incentives for rooftop solar installations in South Africa from 2023-2024, for example in a February 2023 press release, and a February 2024 CEO Newsletter by BLSA CEO Busisiwe Mavuso. The association has also historically supported the REIPPPP, for example most recently in a March 2024 CEO Newsletter. The REIPPPP is a public-private partnership that aims to increase the country's electricity capacity through annual procurement rounds of new renewable energy.
However, BLSA has in the past been strongly unsupportive of South Africa’s Carbon Tax Act. For example, BLSA signed a joint statement with other South African industry associations in September 2022, expressing their positions on the South African carbon tax proposals under the South African Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (TLAB). In the statement, BLSA supported the extension of phase 1 of the tax to 2023, called for lower tax rates from 2023-25, supported introducing free allocations and subsidies up to 2030, and advocated for a delay in increasing the carbon price until post-2035.
Positioning on Energy Transition: BLSA supports the transition of South Africa’s energy mix from coal to renewables, but also appears to support the continued role of fossil gas in the energy mix and in industry. In an April 2024 CEO Newsletter, CEO Busisiwe Mavuso appeared to call for more ambition under the South African Draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2023. In the newsletter, Mavuso opposed the artificial increase of renewable energy pricing to match fossil fuels, opposed the reduced renewable energy allocation compared to the previous IRP, and appeared unsupportive of an increased allocation for fossil gas. Mavuso also has expressed general support for an increase in renewable energy in South Africa’s power sector from 2022-2024, for example in CEO Newsletters published in August 2024, January 2024, and November 2023.
However, BLSA also appears to support the inclusion of fossil gas in the South African energy mix. In response to the news of a gas supply crisis in South Africa in 2024, BLSA CEO Busisiwe Mavuso supported the continued role of fossil gas in the South African energy mix and industry without reference to the need for carbon capture and storage or methane emission abatement, in two separate May 2024 CEO Newsletters. Also responding to the crisis, Busisiwe said in a March 2024 Newsletter that new gas infrastructure and an enabling policy environment for new gas licensing is needed in South Africa. This is misaligned with guidance in the IPCC’s 2022 Mitigation of Climate Change report, which states that in pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot, the global use of gas in 2050 is projected to decline by 45% compared to 2019.