Using corporate submissions on legislative processes, and records of industry’s private meetings with government (largely obtained via requests under the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000), this report demonstrates how industry interventions – predominantly
via Sasol Limited and industry associations Business Unity South Africa and the Minerals Council South Africa – have achieved significant regulatory concessions and extensive delays which have substantially compromised the effectiveness of the Carbon Tax Act 15 of 2019 and the Climate Change Act 22 of 2024.
The implications of this corporate influence are profound: the failure of government’s climate policy response to drive meaningful greenhouse gas emission reductions by big polluters means that the just transition to a low carbon economy is not supported by a robust regulatory framework which holds emitters accountable. This threatens to leave South Africa economically vulnerable, environmentally compromised, and increasingly out of step with global efforts to mitigate climate change.
Major polluters with powerful financial incentives to maintain the status quo inevitably resist regulation aimed at forcing them to internalise the social and economic costs of their operations – costs which are often borne by the rest of society, especially the poorest and most vulnerable. It is government’s role to stand firm in the face of such resistance and to develop effective regulation which addresses this profound injustice.
But as this report demonstrates, government is susceptible to industry pressure. The corporate actors responsible for the pushback against climate regulation do not act for the benefit of the majority of South Africans but instead represent a narrow set of elite vested interests. Their historically powerful role in the economy, and the access that this affords them to policymakers, means that a cohort of major polluters dominates the national economic dialogue and appears to have succeeded repeatedly in persuading government to roll back its progressive climate-related policy initiatives.
This success has been reinforced by the surprising absence of any significant countervailing action from other South African businesses which stand to be severely impacted if the country fails to decarbonise, like the automotive, agricultural, tourism and insurance sectors, not to mention the renewable energy industry. These industries do not appear to play any significant role in engaging government on climate policy, leaving industry associations representing the interests of high emitters to set the agenda, and establishing major polluters as the arbiters of what constitutes acceptable climate progress.
As is evident in the sources cited in this report, and in the twenty-year timeline of industry interventions in South African climate policy set out in Annexure A, high emitters repetitively deploy a series of arguments to convince policymakers that their proposed course of regulatory action is unwise and will have devastating “unexpected” consequences. These arguments are framed around three themes, expanded on in this report: the emitters’ “positive contribution” to society, South Africa’s status as a developing economy, and the need for “alignment”, incentives and low ambition.
Allthese arguments frame climate action in opposition to developmental goals, ignoring the fact that the purpose of the just transition is to achieve growth and development which replaces the current high unemployment, high poverty coal-based economy with one that is more just and sustainable.
The industry players opposed to climate action have mastered the art of economic hostage-taking: inflating their contributions to society and ignoring the damage they cause, while creating a false dichotomy between climate action and economic prosperity.
The consequences of government’s susceptibility to these arguments are increasingly apparent and severe. South Africa’s carbon tax remains among the world’s lowest and is set to remain so until at least the end of the decade, while implementation of the Climate Change Act has been delayed and its effectiveness diluted. These policy failings not only undermine the country’s emission reduction commitments but also threaten its economic competitiveness in a rapidly decarbonising global market.
South African law does not regulate corporate influence, otherwise known as corporate lobbying, over government policy. There is no requirement — as there is in many other jurisdictions — for government to publicly disclose information about its interactions with the private sector.
The report argues that three key actions are urgently needed to reclaim balance in climate policymaking:
1. Enhanced transparency and accountability
2. Diversified stakeholder engagement
3. Evidence-based policy assessment
The development of climate policy in South Africa has been fundamentally imbalanced, allowing corporate interests to consistently
override the public interest in effective climate action. By implementing these reforms, South Africa can begin to restore the legitimacy of its climate policy process and accelerate the just transition that President Ramaphosa has correctly identified as essential to the nation’s
future prosperity.
