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No reprieve for Eskom on Paris emission caps

Cape Town - Eskom will not be exempted from the greenhouse gas emission targets as agreed upon in the Paris Agreement, said Deputy Environmental Affairs Minister Barbara Thompson in Parliament on Wednesday.

Thompson was responding to a question from the DA, asking her if Eskom, which is responsible for around 44.5% of the national greenhouse gas emissions, would be relieved from the targets South Africa agreed to.

“We are tied down by the Paris Agreement,” Thompson said, “and we’ll have to stick to that.”

Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa signed the agreement in April 2016 at a United Nations meeting in New York. In terms of the agreement, greenhouse gas emissions from will be limited as from 2020 onwards through commitments of countries in ambitious national plans.

Fin24 earlier reported that Eskom is facing increased pressure to comply with the new emission standards. New plant minimum emissions standards for coal-fired power stations will commence in 2020.

Although Eskom has obtained postponement of compliance for some of its coal power stations, South Africa’s climate change commitments are expected to place strain on the utility’s dirty coal fleet and finances.

Eskom also has to start decommissioning and retrofitting many of its ageing coal-fired power stations to comply with regulation, which will entail significant capital spending.

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