A group of the world’s richest nations that pledged $8.5 billion in climate finance to South Africa wants the money to be used to retire coal-fired power plants, according to a senior US official involved in the talks, damping suggestions some could be channeled to producing electric vehicles and green hydrogen. Bloomberg quotes the official, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private, as saying the money could though also be spent on strengthening South Africa’s grid to make it easier for renewable energy producers to access it, cushion communities dependent on coal during the transition to green energy, and construct renewable energy facilities.
