Government’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) will result in thousands of South Africans dying prematurely because of pollution from coal fired power stations.

This is according to a written and oral submission from environmental justice organisation groundWork. According to the group government’s proposed IRP will fan the fires of climate change with increases in greenhouse gas emissions, and make electricity unaffordable for millions of poor South Africans who are already excluded from the economy.

GroundWork is set to present its submission, which is supported by its Coal Kills report, to parliament on 23 October 2018.  “The report is a first ever compilation of local research highlighting the damage that coal causes.  Based upon this evidence we believe another IRP is necessary!”

IRP contributing to climate change

“South Africa is the world’s 14th largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Our IRP 2018 avoids the urgency of responding to climate change by including additional coal into the energy mix. The climate imperative is to reduce to zero emissions by 2040 not just for the power sector but for the whole economy.  The IRP does not do this,” groundWork notes.

“South Africans can create another energy future based on renewables or we can go down tied to the old energy model. This is the model of the ‘minerals energy complex’ that has shaped South Africa’s development for over a century.”

“It is based on cheap coal, cheap labour and heavy duty pollution. It is unsustainable economically and is socially and environmentally catastrophic.  It is now collapsing.  Coal Kills provides the evidence,” it continues.

Affected communities to testify

The organisation will be joined at the IRP Hearings by community people who are affected by coal developments. Community members from Ermelo, south Durban, and the Vaal Triangle will present their everyday struggles.

“The affected people will testify about the impact of dirty energy to their health, their air, their lands, their water and the fact that coal based energy is too expensive for the more than half of South Africans who live in poverty,” it concludes.