South Africa’s climate promises faces a reality check

President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed a new cohort of Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) commissioners for the 2026–2030 tenure, calling on them “to … facilitate inclusive dialogue in the pursuit of a consensus to address South Africa’s complex climate and development agenda”.

Meanwhile, five years after its establishment, the PCC has published a glossy institutional review titled The Origins of Our Future, presenting its work as a cornerstone of the country’s climate governance architecture.

The review highlights policy frameworks, global positioning and advisory milestones, framing the period as one of foundational success.

But beneath the rhetoric of progress lies a more troubling reality that South Africa’s climate transition remains stuck between ambition and action.

This includes major failures in the just energy transition (JET), slow implementation of the Climate Change Act and weak delivery on climate adaptation, especially where it matters most, at local level.

The PCC’s five-year review presents the creation of the Just Transition Framework, cabinet adoption of climate principles and South Africa’s visibility in global climate negotiations as key achievements.

It also outlines the commission’s formal advisory role under the Climate Change Act (22 of 2024), positioning the next phase as one focused on “implementation, delivery and scale”.

However, the PCC’s self-assessment glosses over systemic weaknesses in execution.

As it has often been remarked, South Africa is not short of strategies or plans, what’s missing is decisive implementation, accountability and coordination across government.

Promises versus performance

Nowhere is the gap between vision and reality clearer than in the JET.

While South Africa has become a global reference point for the concept — attracting international finance and political goodwill — progress on the ground has been slow and uneven.

The Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP) for 2023–2027 was launched with fanfare, promising accelerated renewable energy deployment, coal phase-out and socio-economic support for affected workers and communities.

Three years later, much of the plan remains largely unimplemented at the scale required.

The decommissioning of the Komati Power Station in October 2022 was meant to be the flagship of the JET, but it has not lived to expectations, sending hundreds of workers into unemployment and businesses closing down.

It was termed a disaster by none other than the mineral resources and energy minister, Gwede Mantashe.

The socio-economic pillar of the JET has also faltered.

While the PCC’s review highlights stakeholder engagement and framework development, tangible benefits, such as job creation, retraining programmes and community investment, remain limited, particularly in communities that used to benefit from the Komati operation.

Several stakeholders have gone to the extent of questioned the concept of just transition, throwing it into a credibility crisis.

Climate Change Act: law without teeth — yet

The enactment of the Climate Change Act in 2024 was widely hailed as a breakthrough, providing a legal foundation for emissions targets, sectoral plans and climate resilience.

Crucially, the Act requires municipalities to develop and implement climate adaptation plans, a first for South Africa.

Only the eThekwini Municipality is known to have established a structure, in line with the Act, through the launching of the Climate Change Forum “to drive urgent action and resilience”.

This is a commendable act given that Durban is a hotspot for some of the most devastating climate change inspired weather disasters.

Key sections of the Act are yet to be proclaimed after nearly 18 months since it was assented to by the President Cyril Ramaphosa on 23 July 2024.

This leaves important regulatory and enforcement mechanisms in limbo. As a result, the law’s transformative potential has yet to be realised.

Despite the PCC’s advisory mandate, there is little evidence of coordinated action to ensure alignment across national, provincial and municipal planning cycles.

Without clear timelines, enforcement tools and consequences for non-compliance, the risk is that the Act becomes another symbolic commitment rather than a driver of change.

Adaptation: policy-rich, impact-poor

While mitigation and energy transition dominate public debate, climate adaptation — the ability of communities and systems to cope with worsening floods, droughts, heatwaves and storms — remains South Africa’s weakest link when it comes to addressing global warming.

This is acknowledged in South Africa’s October 2025 National Determined Contributions (NDC), which makes a commitment to ramp up this aspect of addressing climate change in the country.

Research consistently points to fragmented planning, weak coordination across government spheres, limited funding, poor integration of scientific data into decision-making and inadequate communication.

Community participation in various climate activities is often superficial and planning horizons remain short-term.

A recent research paper authored by scholars Richard Kwame Adom, Takalani Malivhadza and Mulala Danny Simatele argued that climate change adaptation frameworks in South Africa face significant weaknesses that include:

“Fragmented leadership across government levels, weak accountability mechanisms, constrained capacity and expertise, inadequate community involvement, insufficient funding, a short-term focus, bureaucratic delays, and poor integration of science into policy”.

For residents facing flooding, water scarcity or heat stress, the consequences are immediate and tangible.

Governance gaps and skewed finance

Underlying these failures are deeper governance challenges.

Local governments — expected to drive both adaptation and elements of the just transition — are chronically under-resourced and lack technical capacity.

Also, oversight mechanisms remain weak and accountability for missed targets is unclear.

Policy incoherence also persists. Conflicting signals between energy, climate and industrial policies continue to slow decision-making and deter investment.

Climate finance adds another layer of imbalance. The bulk of funding flows toward mitigation and energy projects, while adaptation — often less attractive to investors but essential for protecting vulnerable communities — remains underfunded.

A study conducted by Climate Policy Initiative revealed that in South Africa, “only 11.3% of tracked (climate) finance supported adaptation, well below the African average of 33.7%”.

The PCC’s five-year review tells a story of institutional achievement. What it does not fully confront is why delivery has lagged so badly — and what will change to ensure the next five years look different.

The review omits a monumental failure of climate change communication in the country. Study after study reveal limited climate change illiteracy in the country, blamed on poor government communication and media reporting.

An Afrobarometer survey shows rising, but still inadequate, climate change awareness in South Africa, with about 61% aware in late 2025, up from 41% in 2018.

Tthough significant gaps remain, especially among women, rural residents, and the less educated – potentially the most vulnerable to climate impacts.

Without urgent course correction — including binding implementation plans, clear timelines, enforcement of the Climate Change Act, meaningful support for municipalities and transparent accountability — South Africa’s climate commitments risk remaining aspirational slogans rather than lived reality.

For communities already bearing the brunt of climate impacts, the time for policy debates has long passed. Implementation is an urgent emergency.

• Dr Enock Sithole is the executive director of the Institute for Climate Change Communication.