South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Partnership: A novel approach transforming the international landscape on delivering NDC financial goals at scale

ABSTRACT The essay provides an overview of the South African Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and the technical and political processes involved to secure the first country platform deal of its kind in the world. The JETP was premised on delivering gigatons of carbon offsets by phasing out coal for a sizeable and attractive climate finance deal. The South African JETP model is being replicated elsewhere in the world and is transforming the landscape of how nationally determined contributions can be used as tools for energy transitions and economic transformation. The essay seeks to demonstrate where international partnerships can be useful in this living experiment in transformative transition in a developing country, and suggests where they are not. The essay provides insights into how the South African JETP process built local ownership and catalysed innovative institutional mechanisms to deliver a substantive climate ambition under the rubric of a just energy transition.