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'It's our sun': Rural South Africans seek greater gains from clean energy
(Reuters, 28 Mar 2022) As South Africa plans to cut its reliance on coal, it is backing green power production at the community level - but locals are seeking more employment and financial benefits.
The grassy greens and browns of South Africa's semi-desert Karoo region are fast becoming dotted with flashes of silver and white, as solar and wind farms spring up across the vast, sun-soaked land in Northern Cape province.
But nearby communities - where unemployment and drug-use are a persistent problem - say that even as profits trickle into their towns, more can be done to distribute fairly the benefits from the renewable energy they believe belongs to them.
"There was excitement when we saw the (solar) panels being built," said Rose Bailey, a social worker in De Aar, a town of about 24,000 inhabitants between Kimberley and Cape Town.
"We thought it would bring employment and electricity to our homes - but we are still struggling, and we still have power cuts," said Bailey at the charity where she works with abused women and children.
Climate policy experts are looking to South Africa, Africa's biggest carbon emitter, as the poster child for developing nations seeking to shift from fossil fuels to green energy in a way that reduces poverty for all: a so-called just transition.
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Reuters, 28 Mar 2022: 'It's our sun': Rural South Africans seek greater gains from clean energy
