President Cyril Ramaphosa warned other developing nations on Monday that future carbon taxes proposed by rich countries would damage their economies unless they act swiftly to ditch fossil fuels in favour of green energy.
Addressing a National Treasury and World Bank climate change conference in Pretoria, Ramaphosa said the carbon intensity of the 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 such as the EU.
'Instruments such as the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism have the potential to cause great damage to developing economies.'
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.
