There is a growing sentiment in SA that we are living through a decisive era. The kind where the choices we make today will not only shape our energy architecture, our economic direction and industrial strategy, but also test the integrity of our commitments to justice, accountability and inclusion.
The question is no longer if SA should transition to clean, sustainable energy sources, but whether we can do so in a way that protects vulnerable workers, strengthens municipalities and enhances competitiveness.
The inaugural SA Climate Summit, hosted by the National Business Initiative (NBI) in Johannesburg from November 24 to 25, arrived at a time when the nation was past debating climate urgency. It placed us in the domain of implementation.
Two days, 28 sessions and representation from nearly every sector communicated a singular truth. This summit was a declaration that implementation was on the table and required urgency.
Business leaders, ministers, financiers, youth voices, civil society organisers and global partners acknowledged that the window for meaningful action was narrowing. As Steve Nicholls from Africa Energy Futures put it, “We need to minimise the time we are exposed to over 1.5ºC.”
This 1.5°C threshold refers to the internationally agreed limit on long-term average global warming above pre-industrial levels under the Paris Agreement, beyond which climate risks escalate sharply.
Global momentum, local imperatives
The SA Climate Summit sentiment mirrored the energy at recent global climate gatherings. Business is positioning itself not as a spectator but as an active driver of the transition.
With world-class solar and wind resources, critical minerals and a private sector capable of scaling solutions, SA is well placed to lead on the continent. This potential is tangible, already present in green industrial hubs and startup businesses emerging across provinces.
For example, a session on the first day highlighted the impact of the Climate Finance Accelerator, delivered by the NBI, PwC UK and GreenCape. The programme has facilitated more than R2bn in matches between entrepreneurs and investors since 2021 for low carbon projects in the waste, energy and food space.
Our G20 and B20 engagements as well as COP30 participation call for closer collaboration between business and government and have signalled confidence in SA’s capacity to implement.
Yet confidence will not upgrade transmission lines or unlock procurement bottlenecks. Implementation lives in the everyday, in frameworks for wheeling, maintenance budgets and capacity at municipal level. No nation transitions on policy statements alone. Transition is built through work and partnership.
The centrality of municipalities
One of the strongest themes to emerge was municipal empowerment. As rainfall patterns shift, heat intensifies and infrastructure strains, adaptation becomes practical, local and urgent.
Water treatment systems, stormwater upgrades, informal settlement resilience and grid stability are not abstract climate debates. They are everyday survival questions. For this reason, municipalities cannot be downstream recipients of policy. They must be frontline actors in climate resilience.
Government and business agreed that capacity must increase, climate planning must sit at the heart of local planning and public private partnerships must scale into water, transport and electricity infrastructure.
During his opening speech, cooperative governance & traditional affairs (CoGTA) Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa reminded the room that climate leadership demanded collective courage and responsibility.
It also requires persistence. The kind that pushes through bureaucratic gridlocks and sees community inclusion as non-negotiable, and not a check box.
The climate finance window is opening
One of the most encouraging outcomes was the momentum in climate finance.
A total of R13m was mobilised for climate tech innovators under the Ninety One Accelerator in support of Earthshot, and over R2bn was matched to entrepreneurs through the Climate Finance Accelerator between 2021 and 2024.
The Just Energy Transition Funding Platform is now mobilising $800m in grant finance with 26 registered projects, as well as weekly investor pitching sessions, bridging green enterprises into capital pipelines.
Importantly, SMMEs were recognised as central players in the transition. A just future cannot be powered solely by large corporates. It must include township businesses, micro enterprises, and local suppliers in the value chain. Otherwise, we risk building a green economy that is efficient but unequal.
Skills, jobs and the human story of transition
The launch of the NBI’s JET Skilling for Employment Programme Report may prove to be one of the summit’s most impactful moments. Transition is not only about megawatts decommissioned or gigawatts installed. It is about workers, livelihoods and mobility.
The report notes gaps in our skills ecosystem and calls for alignment between training institutions and real industrial activity. Funding for the next phase means actionable implementation instead of perpetual piloting.
A renewable grid means little if communities are left behind. Climate justice must be economic justice.
NDC implementation and industrial competitiveness
In addition, the NBI and We Mean Business Coalition released the South African Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Report.
This report emphasises that an ambitious, credible and investible climate action plan and emissions reduction pledge contained within the NDC could anchor investment decisions.
The launch emphasised that SA’s climate transition was underway, but must accelerate to advance energy security, drive green industrialisation and boost export competitiveness. Business has the opportunity drive this change. For an emerging economy like ours, doing nothing is no longer affordable. It threatens competitiveness, investment, and jobs.
Key to SA’s climate transition is investment in renewable energy. The RE100 initiative of The Climate Group showed that over 110 companies with operations in SA have committed to 100% renewable electricity by 2050.
But policy must accelerate to meet industry appetite, and what is required is enabling frameworks, not red tape.
Industry at the table
SA’s biggest emitters participated openly. In a country where mining and heavy industry anchor thousands of jobs, green industrialisation is an economic imperative.
The Eskom Exxaro MoU commits to desulphurisation, waste beneficiation, electric vehicle deployment on mining sites and community farming initiatives. These steps show willingness to transition.
Seizing the opportunity before it slips
If one sentence captures the summit, it is this: SA has the ingredients for a resilient and inclusive green economy, but the pace must quicken. Climate action is economic imperative, not just environmental necessity. It can provide localisation, export competitiveness, food security and youth employment.
Shameela Soobramoney, CEO of the NBI, articulated the moment succinctly: “Implementation is not just a policy imperative, it is an economic opportunity.”
If SA acts with urgency, coordination and integrity, the climate transition could become one of the greatest nation-building projects of our lifetime. If we delay, the cost will not be measured in carbon concentration or coastal loss. It will be counted in jobs, households and futures.
SA’s climate moment is here — and it’s time to act.
• About the author: Zipho Dolamo is a freelance business writer who helps individuals and organisations communicate their ideas with purpose and impact.
This article was sponsored by the NBI.
