In a significant development, the High Court has issued an order to join the Minister of Electricity as a fifth respondent in the ongoing #CancelCoal case. This decision follows a joinder application submitted by the applicants, citing the Minister's pivotal role in determining new generation capacity. It is anticipated that the Minister may become the official responsible for issuing any fresh determination mandated by the court   The three applicants in the landmark youth-led climate constitutional litigation the African Climate Alliance(ACA), the Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action (VEM) and groundWork (gW), represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) brought the joinder application on 6 September 2023, in light of the President’s  proclamation, granting the new Minister powers to determine that new generation capacity is required and the types of energy sources from which electricity must be generated. 

The Biden administration on Thursday announced it has finalised rules targeting carbon, air and water pollution from power plants that it says could cut over one-billion metric tons from carbon emissions by 2047 even as demand for electricity grows. The Environmental Protection Agency tightened a proposal to slash carbon emissions from existing coal and new gas plants, and updated and finalized long-standing rules to reduce mercury and toxic air pollutants and clean up wastewater and coal ash discharge.

In an era in which raising finance for major hydrocarbons projects was increasingly challenging, the developers of such projects in Africa should consider segmenting them and separately seeking finance for each segment. That advice was given by Africa Finance Corporation Senior Associate Shao Olumide. He was participating in a panel discussion at the 2024 African Refiners and Distributors Association conference, in Cape Town. Globally, investors were moving away from hydrocarbons projects, including fossil fuel refineries, he pointed out. But investors not willing to invest in a refinery itself might very well be prepared to invest in infrastructure ancillary to, but essential for, the operation of the refinery, such as roads, piers and other port or terminal infrastructure.

With some of the most prominent and respected figures in the international energy sphere among the 24 speakers and panelists and more than 500 delegates at the Annual conference of the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) in Cape Town this week, among the biggest concerns is: how does Africa’s energy security survive along the road to Energy Transition? ARDA Executive Secretary, Anibor Kragha says that the continent’s energy security cannot be sacrificed to meet a fast-track global agenda for phasing out of fossil fuels in order to bring the international levels of emissions within the standards demanded.

The World Bank is advising South Africa’s National Treasury on a climate risk strategy after floods in recent years caused billions of dollars of damage. The country may take out climate insurance or establish a contingency fund to deal with major adverse weather events, a person familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified as a public announcement hasn’t been made. Municipalities could also be incentivised to invest in infrastructure and other measures to reduce the impact of unexpected weather events, the person said.

London-listed Gemfields has announced updated ‘G-Factor for Natural Resources’ figures for the 12 months to December 31, 2023, and has also once again invited governance bodies, extractive companies, industry observers and host governments to adopt the ‘G-Factor for Natural Resources’ measure to improve transparency and accountability regarding the share of natural resource wealth paid to a host country’s government. In July 2021, Gemfields announced the ‘G-Factor for Natural Resources’, a measure promoting greater transparency regarding the level of natural resource wealth shared with the governments of host countries, whether from the mining, oil, gas, timber or fishing sectors.

Shareholders rejected Woodside Energy's climate plan on Wednesday, marking a symbolic victory for activists who have called for Australia's biggest gas producer to stop new fossil fuel projects, but its chairman survived a push to oust him. Following a lengthy campaign by activists, 58% of the votes opposed Woodside's climate transition plan in a demonstration of the growing unease over its strategy for curbing carbon emissions which critics say is unambitious and vague.

As US-based uranium miner enCore Energy charts its path towards significantly ramping up production, the company faces a dual challenge of aggressive expansion and ensuring the retention of key personnel critical to its operational success. Driven by a mission to bolster uranium production in the US through in-situ recovery (ISR) technology, enCore has set its sights on ambitious production targets. The company aims to scale up its capacity to three-million pounds a year of uranium oxide by 2026 and five-million pounds a year by 2028.

French multinational energy group TotalEnergies was committed to the energy transition and has a strategy for this, highlighted the group’s MD and CEO marketing and services and country chair and executive VP: Southern Africa Mariam Kane-Garcia on Tuesday. She was addressing a session of the African Refiners and Distributors Association 2024 conference, in Cape Town. The TotalEnergies transition strategy had two pillars, she pointed out. The first was ‘more energy, less emissions’, with fossil fuels. “We are not giving away our core business, which is oil and gas,” she noted. The second was the development of its low-carbon ‘Integrated Power’ business, which involved the deployment of renewable energy.

ASX-listed Invictus Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that could lead to a maiden gas offtake agreement with Dallaglio Investments, involving the supply of gas to the Eureka gold mine, in Zimbabwe. Invictus will supply natural gas from the Cabora Bassa project, in Zimbabwe, as feedstock for the Dallaglio’s proposed gas-to-power (GtP) plant.