It seems that South Africa is to be the poster child for the (otherwise flopping) COP26 conference. On Nov. 2 it was announced to great fanfare, that four Western countries—U.K., U.S., France and Germany, along with the entire EU—would be pooling their dwindling financial resources to fund the Just Energy Transition Partnership with South Africa, in order to “accelerate the decarbonization of South Africa’s economy, with a focus on the electricity system,” according to the U.K. government’s announcement.
Sweeping away all the glimmer about “megatons” and “degrees,” what this huge “carrot” will provide is actually a version of imperial overlordship of the nation’s economy, focused on destroying its energy system. After a listing of about a dozen motivating whatfors and whereases, the statement says that, in exchange for providing “support, including finance, to developing countries’ mitigation and adaptation efforts ... an inclusive task force between South Africa and international partners” will be established. Here the document specifically mentions the South African electrical utility, Eskom, and the need for “successfully and sustainably” managing its $400 billion in debt, as well as accelerating “reform” (meaning deregulation), “such as unbundling and improv[ing] revenue collection.”