(Bloomberg) — South Africa’s mining industry has given its backing to moving the continent’s most developed economy away from coal but said it must be done gradually and responsibly.
In a presentation to the country’s Presidential Climate Change Coordinating Commission late last week the main body representing the industry said that 60% of the country’s $302 billion economy is reliant on energy produced from coal.
“This energy and associated energy intensive complex helped to develop the most industrialized country in Africa,” Roger Baxter, the chief executive officer of the Minerals Council South Africa, said in his presentation. “We support the transition to a low-carbon economy and society – contingent on doing it judiciously and systemically.”
South Africa’s economy expanded over the last century through the development of the world’s biggest gold and platinum reserves, which require significant and reliable power supply.
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