Addressing a national treasury and World Bank climate change conference in Pretoria on Monday, Ramaphosa said the carbon intensity of South Africas economy, which relies heavily on burning coal to produce electricity, was unsustainable.
For decades our reliance on coal allowed us to produce electricity cheaply. But the world has changed, and this dependency has come to pose significant risks, he said, chiefly carbon taxes proposed by trading blocs like the EU.
Instruments like the EUs carbon border adjustment mechanism [have] the potential to cause great damage to developing economies, he said.
Data from think-tank Ember shows South Africa was the most carbon-intensive major economy in 2022, producing 709g of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour of energy generated. That has put it in the worlds top 15 greenhouse gas emitters above Turkey, Italy, France or Britain, according to watchdog Climate Transparency.
Ramaphosa highlighted the impact of storms last week around the city of Cape Town, which shut down the port and caused caused devastation to homes, communities, businesses and infrastructure, as an example of negative climate impacts.
