🍃 Social media has been abuzz with the claim that a “positive effect” of #SouthAfrica’s #loadshedding is that the country has now met its #emissions reduction target.
But the claim has problems. africacheck.info
But the claim has problems. africacheck.info
The viral claim can be attributed to media site Bloomberg, who in turn said they had quoted the presidential climate commission. But the commission says it was misquoted. africacheck.info
South Africa is part of the 196-member #ParisAgreement, a legally binding international treaty that aims to limit the increase in the global average temperature to below 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels. africacheck.info
South Africa entered its first nationally determined contributions or NDC under the treaty in 2015. The country committed to reducing its emissions to between 398 and 510 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2-eq) by 2025 and between 350 and 420 Mt CO2-eq by 2030.
Carbon dioxide is the primary anthropogenic, or human-made, greenhouse gas. It is the reference gas against which other greenhouse gases are measured, leading to the term carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq). africacheck.info
South Africa strongly relies on coal-based energy, which contributed an average of 91.8% of total carbon dioxide emissions between 2000 and 2015. In 2021, coal contributed 86% of the country’s total electricity production. africacheck.info
“Current emissions data” that would prove this claim correct is not yet available and only likely to be so two years after the fact, as the commission confirmed for us. africacheck.info
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