RESEARCH STARTER

South Africa's greenhouse gas emissions

South Africa's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are significant, primarily due to its reliance on coal as the major energy source. Historical factors, including extensive economic development and deforestation, have contributed to the country's environmental challenges, with only about 1 percent of its land covered by forest today. Over the years, emissions have increased substantially; for instance, in 2014, South Africa emitted approximately 593.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, ranking it among the top global emitters. The energy sector, particularly the state-owned utility Eskom, is responsible for a substantial portion of these emissions.

Post-apartheid, the government introduced various policies aimed at reducing GHG emissions, such as the Reconstruction and Development Programme and commitments under international agreements like the Paris Agreement. However, challenges remain, including a lack of infrastructure investment and socio-economic issues like poverty and inequality that continue to impact environmental policies. South Africa's commitment to transitioning to renewable energy sources and implementing carbon reduction strategies reflects its ongoing struggle to balance economic growth with environmental sustainability.

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Historical and Political Context

Indigenous South Africans were immigrants from other parts of Africa, but beginning in 1652, South Africa was occupied by Europeans. The power shifted between the Dutch and the British through these years, and sometimes was shared by the two parties. In 1652, the Dutch East India Company founded Cape Town. In 1806, the British took over Cape Town. The Boers, descendants of the Dutch settlers, founded their own republics in the South African interior. Between 1899 and 1902, the Boers and the British fought the Anglo-Boer War for control of South Africa’s diamonds and gold. The British won the war. In 1910, South Africa became a British dominion. The Boers later negotiated with the British and gained hegemony.

Under European control, racial discrimination and racial segregation were generally practiced. The infamous policies of apartheid were officially made into laws in 1948 and were enforced for nearly forty years. Laws divided South African residents into racial groups, including Black, Coloured (a term describing individuals of a multiracial background from diverse ancestries), Asian, and White. White South Africans lived in the White area, which covered more than 80 percent of South African land. All people who were not White had to carry permits when entering areas designated for White people. Laws also segregated educational standards, job categories, and public facilities. Through the “homeland” system established in 1959, Black South Africans were deprived of their citizenship and forced to live in the so-called tribal homelands, which occupied small and economically unproductive areas of the country. Uprisings and protests against apartheid were ruthlessly repressed. The anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela was arrested and jailed. He was released from prison in 1990 after serving twenty-eight years. In 1994, South Africa held the first election in which Black citizens had the right to vote. Nelson Mandela, representing the African National Congress (ANC), won the election and became the country's first Black president. The ANC remained the governing party of South Africa until the 2024 election, when it lost its parliamentary majority, although it remained the nation's largest party.

Impact of South African Policies on Climate Change

In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, South Africa lost a large area of natural habitat mainly due to extensive economic development and deforestation during the nineteenth century, as well as continued negative human impacts. The early European settlers exploited South Africa’s forests brutally. By the 2020s, indigenous forests cover only approximately 0.56 percent of South Africa. Coal is the major energy resource in South Africa. In the past, South Africa had limited access to foreign oil due to anti-apartheid sanctions. Sasol Ltd., a partly state-owned company, built several coal-to-liquids (CTL) plants. These CTL plants became big greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters. Sasol was the forty-fifth largest single emitter of CO2 on Earth between 1988 and 2015. By the 2020s, Sasol's Secunda facility was the world's largest single-source point of greenhouse gas emissions.

Following the 1994 democratic election, the South African government introduced the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). RDP intended to meet people’s basic needs and create jobs through public works. In 1996, a new economic policy, known as Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR), was adopted. In the early twenty-first century, the South African government began promoting independent power producers (IPPs) in the South African electricity market. However, the government made little progress on these policies due to a lack of investment in infrastructure.

South Africa as a GHG Emitter

In 1990, South Africa emitted 303.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in GHGs. Annual GHG emissions increased to 348.0 MtCO2e, 383.6 MtCO2e, and 593.4 MtCO2e in 2000, 2005, and 2014, respectively. Its GHG emissions ranked seventeenth, nineteenth, and twentieth among the top twenty GHG emitters worldwide in 1990, 2000, and 2005, respectively. In the 1990s and 2000s, South Africa’s annual GHG emissions contributed about 1.1 to 1.2 percent of total GHG emissions worldwide. The energy industry contributed most of the GHG emissions. The state-owned utility, Eskom, contributed to about 45 percent of the nation’s GHG emissions in 2016. Eskom provides over 90 percent of the country’s electricity.

The international community agreed to address global climate change and drafted the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the subsequent Kyoto Protocol. South Africa ratified the Convention in 1997. In 2001, the Seventh Conference of the Parties (COP-7) to the UNFCCC reached an agreement to facilitate the accession of the Kyoto Protocol, and South Africa acceded to the Kyoto Protocol in 2002. South Africa is classified as a non-Annex I country, meaning it was not obliged to adhere to a commitment to reduce GHG emissions.

In 2016, South Africa ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement, making a voluntary commitment to peak at 398 to 614 MtCO2e around 2025, plateau for a decade, and then mitigate its emissions. However, to meet its goals in line with the Paris Agreement, the country's Climate Transparency Report 2020 noted emissions needed to be reduced below 348 MtCO2 e by 2030 and below 224 MtCO2 e by 2050. Between 1990 and 2019, the country's total GHG emissions increased by over 67 percent, driven mostly by the energy sector. The country’s National Development Plan 2030 outlined plans to increase sustainable energy generation, and officials announced plans to reduce GHG emissions to between 350 and 420 MtCO2e by 2030.

Summary and Foresight

South Africa is the most economically advanced country in Africa. Its economy has heavily depended on energy-intensive industries. Although its government has often been commended for taking an active role in controlling climate change, GHG emissions still increased significantly in the early twenty-first century. The government made many ambitious plans to reduce GHG emissions, such as generating 15 percent of electricity from renewable resources by 2020; conducting a National Greening Strategy through forestry development; promoting energy-efficient lighting; and reducing the use of coal for energy. For example, South Africa committed to “greening” the 2010 World Cup by conserving water and energy and reducing GHG emissions. A carbon tax, carbon budgeting for business, and carbon capture and storage were also proposed. However, these goals were not met, and GHG emissions continued rising through 2010.

In 2019, South Africa became the first country in Africa to implement a carbon tax policy in line with standards published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In 2024, the country passed a new Climate Change Act, aiming to reduce emissions.

Although apartheid was replaced by a multiracial democracy, the consequences of apartheid still influence South Africa’s politics and society. Elections still show a major racial divide in the country. The income inequality between White and Black citizens remains significant. The government has stressed its commitment to economic development and environmental protection. However, the nation continues to face serious challenges, such as poverty, unemployment, environmental degradation, and a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS.

Key Facts

  • Population: 63.1 million (2025 estimate)
  • Area: 1,219,090 square kilometers
  • Gross domestic product (GDP): $870.42 billion (purchasing power parity, 2024 estimate)
  • Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e): 303.2 in 1990; 593.4 in 2014; 479 in 2022
  • Kyoto Protocol status: Acceded July 31, 2002
  • Paris Agreement status: Signed April 2016

Bibliography

Boyle, Rob. "Greenhouse Gas Emissions in South Africa." Emission Index, 16 July 2024, www.emission-index.com/countries/south-africa. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

Riley, Tess. "Just 100 Companies Responsible for 71% of Global Emissions, Study Says." The Guardian, 10 July 2017, www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

"SA’s Massive Sasol Petrochemical Plant Faces Serious Challenges – New Report ." University of Witwatersrand, 11 Nov. 2024, www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/opinion/2024/2024-11/sas-massive-sasol-petrochemical-plant-faces-serious-challenges--new-report.html. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

Scholes, R. J., and M. R. Van der Merwe. “Greenhouse Gas Emissions from South Africa.” South African Journal of Science, vol. 92, no. 5, 1996, pp. 220-22.

"South Africa." Climate Promise, United Nations, 1 Aug. 2025, climatepromise.undp.org/what-we-do/where-we-work/south-africa. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

South Africa. Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. South Africa’s Review Report for the Sixteenth Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. United Nations, 2008.

"South Africa." IEA, www.iea.org/countries/south-africa/emissions. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

"South Africa's Fifth Biennial Update Report to the UNFCCC." Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Nov. 2023, unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Fifth%20Biennial%20Update%20Report%20%20of%20South%20Africa%20Submission%20to%20UNFCCC.pdf. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.


"South Africa’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC)." INDC, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 25 Sept. 2015, www4.unfccc.int/Submissions/INDC/Published%20Documents/South%20Africa/1/South%20Africa.pdf. Accessed 15 Oct. 2018.

Full Article

Historical and Political Context

Indigenous South Africans were immigrants from other parts of Africa, but beginning in 1652, South Africa was occupied by Europeans. The power shifted between the Dutch and the British through these years, and sometimes was shared by the two parties. In 1652, the Dutch East India Company founded Cape Town. In 1806, the British took over Cape Town. The Boers, descendants of the Dutch settlers, founded their own republics in the South African interior. Between 1899 and 1902, the Boers and the British fought the Anglo-Boer War for control of South Africa’s diamonds and gold. The British won the war. In 1910, South Africa became a British dominion. The Boers later negotiated with the British and gained hegemony.

Under European control, racial discrimination and racial segregation were generally practiced. The infamous policies of apartheid were officially made into laws in 1948 and were enforced for nearly forty years. Laws divided South African residents into racial groups, including Black, Coloured (a term describing individuals of a multiracial background from diverse ancestries), Asian, and White. White South Africans lived in the White area, which covered more than 80 percent of South African land. All people who were not White had to carry permits when entering areas designated for White people. Laws also segregated educational standards, job categories, and public facilities. Through the “homeland” system established in 1959, Black South Africans were deprived of their citizenship and forced to live in the so-called tribal homelands, which occupied small and economically unproductive areas of the country. Uprisings and protests against apartheid were ruthlessly repressed. The anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela was arrested and jailed. He was released from prison in 1990 after serving twenty-eight years. In 1994, South Africa held the first election in which Black citizens had the right to vote. Nelson Mandela, representing the African National Congress (ANC), won the election and became the country's first Black president. The ANC remained the governing party of South Africa until the 2024 election, when it lost its parliamentary majority, although it remained the nation's largest party.

Impact of South African Policies on Climate Change

In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, South Africa lost a large area of natural habitat mainly due to extensive economic development and deforestation during the nineteenth century, as well as continued negative human impacts. The early European settlers exploited South Africa’s forests brutally. By the 2020s, indigenous forests cover only approximately 0.56 percent of South Africa. Coal is the major energy resource in South Africa. In the past, South Africa had limited access to foreign oil due to anti-apartheid sanctions. Sasol Ltd., a partly state-owned company, built several coal-to-liquids (CTL) plants. These CTL plants became big greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters. Sasol was the forty-fifth largest single emitter of CO2 on Earth between 1988 and 2015. By the 2020s, Sasol's Secunda facility was the world's largest single-source point of greenhouse gas emissions.

Following the 1994 democratic election, the South African government introduced the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). RDP intended to meet people’s basic needs and create jobs through public works. In 1996, a new economic policy, known as Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR), was adopted. In the early twenty-first century, the South African government began promoting independent power producers (IPPs) in the South African electricity market. However, the government made little progress on these policies due to a lack of investment in infrastructure.

South Africa as a GHG Emitter

In 1990, South Africa emitted 303.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in GHGs. Annual GHG emissions increased to 348.0 MtCO2e, 383.6 MtCO2e, and 593.4 MtCO2e in 2000, 2005, and 2014, respectively. Its GHG emissions ranked seventeenth, nineteenth, and twentieth among the top twenty GHG emitters worldwide in 1990, 2000, and 2005, respectively. In the 1990s and 2000s, South Africa’s annual GHG emissions contributed about 1.1 to 1.2 percent of total GHG emissions worldwide. The energy industry contributed most of the GHG emissions. The state-owned utility, Eskom, contributed to about 45 percent of the nation’s GHG emissions in 2016. Eskom provides over 90 percent of the country’s electricity.

The international community agreed to address global climate change and drafted the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the subsequent Kyoto Protocol. South Africa ratified the Convention in 1997. In 2001, the Seventh Conference of the Parties (COP-7) to the UNFCCC reached an agreement to facilitate the accession of the Kyoto Protocol, and South Africa acceded to the Kyoto Protocol in 2002. South Africa is classified as a non-Annex I country, meaning it was not obliged to adhere to a commitment to reduce GHG emissions.

In 2016, South Africa ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement, making a voluntary commitment to peak at 398 to 614 MtCO2e around 2025, plateau for a decade, and then mitigate its emissions. However, to meet its goals in line with the Paris Agreement, the country's Climate Transparency Report 2020 noted emissions needed to be reduced below 348 MtCO2 e by 2030 and below 224 MtCO2 e by 2050. Between 1990 and 2019, the country's total GHG emissions increased by over 67 percent, driven mostly by the energy sector. The country’s National Development Plan 2030 outlined plans to increase sustainable energy generation, and officials announced plans to reduce GHG emissions to between 350 and 420 MtCO2e by 2030.

Summary and Foresight

South Africa is the most economically advanced country in Africa. Its economy has heavily depended on energy-intensive industries. Although its government has often been commended for taking an active role in controlling climate change, GHG emissions still increased significantly in the early twenty-first century. The government made many ambitious plans to reduce GHG emissions, such as generating 15 percent of electricity from renewable resources by 2020; conducting a National Greening Strategy through forestry development; promoting energy-efficient lighting; and reducing the use of coal for energy. For example, South Africa committed to “greening” the 2010 World Cup by conserving water and energy and reducing GHG emissions. A carbon tax, carbon budgeting for business, and carbon capture and storage were also proposed. However, these goals were not met, and GHG emissions continued rising through 2010.

In 2019, South Africa became the first country in Africa to implement a carbon tax policy in line with standards published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In 2024, the country passed a new Climate Change Act, aiming to reduce emissions.

Although apartheid was replaced by a multiracial democracy, the consequences of apartheid still influence South Africa’s politics and society. Elections still show a major racial divide in the country. The income inequality between White and Black citizens remains significant. The government has stressed its commitment to economic development and environmental protection. However, the nation continues to face serious challenges, such as poverty, unemployment, environmental degradation, and a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS.

Key Facts

  • Population: 63.1 million (2025 estimate)
  • Area: 1,219,090 square kilometers
  • Gross domestic product (GDP): $870.42 billion (purchasing power parity, 2024 estimate)
  • Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e): 303.2 in 1990; 593.4 in 2014; 479 in 2022
  • Kyoto Protocol status: Acceded July 31, 2002
  • Paris Agreement status: Signed April 2016

Bibliography

Boyle, Rob. "Greenhouse Gas Emissions in South Africa." Emission Index, 16 July 2024, www.emission-index.com/countries/south-africa. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

Riley, Tess. "Just 100 Companies Responsible for 71% of Global Emissions, Study Says." The Guardian, 10 July 2017, www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

"SA’s Massive Sasol Petrochemical Plant Faces Serious Challenges – New Report ." University of Witwatersrand, 11 Nov. 2024, www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/opinion/2024/2024-11/sas-massive-sasol-petrochemical-plant-faces-serious-challenges--new-report.html. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

Scholes, R. J., and M. R. Van der Merwe. “Greenhouse Gas Emissions from South Africa.” South African Journal of Science, vol. 92, no. 5, 1996, pp. 220-22.

"South Africa." Climate Promise, United Nations, 1 Aug. 2025, climatepromise.undp.org/what-we-do/where-we-work/south-africa. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

South Africa. Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. South Africa’s Review Report for the Sixteenth Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. United Nations, 2008.

"South Africa." IEA, www.iea.org/countries/south-africa/emissions. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

"South Africa's Fifth Biennial Update Report to the UNFCCC." Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Nov. 2023, unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Fifth%20Biennial%20Update%20Report%20%20of%20South%20Africa%20Submission%20to%20UNFCCC.pdf. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.


"South Africa’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC)." INDC, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 25 Sept. 2015, www4.unfccc.int/Submissions/INDC/Published%20Documents/South%20Africa/1/South%20Africa.pdf. Accessed 15 Oct. 2018.

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