Decarbonisation

South Africa is poised for a record year of renewable-energy installations, with eight projects totalling 1 932 MW having reached financial close by the end of April and a further 26 projects representing 3 320 MW expected to achieve that milestone by year-end, according to research from the Power Futures Lab at the UCT Graduate School of Business. If the full 2026 pipeline closes as expected, the year would total 34 financial closures representing about 5 252 MW of new renewable-energy capacity – the highest single-year volume in the country's history, surpassing the 3 562 MW recorded across 35 closures in 2024. The majority of projects moving towards construction are associated with public procurement processes, including bid windows six and seven of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme and bid window two of the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, although South Africa's rapidly expanding private commercial and industrial market also features strongly, with trader-intermediated offtake emerging as a key theme. Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau says the themes of decarbonisation, diversification and digitalisation will now anchor South Africa's Industrial Development Strategy, following its recent approval by Cabinet, describing the strategy as a consistent and forward-looking policy that would direct the country's industrialisation agenda.

The EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism entered a new phase on January 1, moving from a reporting and data-gathering exercise to a system that now imposes a financial liability on imports of certain carbon-intensive products entering the EU, with the immediate impact on South African exports relatively limited but the scope expected to expand over time, potentially including indirect emissions associated with electricity consumption – a development that could bring Eskom's coal-dominated generation fleet directly into the competitiveness equation for South African exporters. The European Commission proposed in December 2025 adding approximately 180 downstream product categories containing significant iron and steel or aluminium content, including machinery, fabricated metal products, vehicle components, construction equipment, electrical equipment, engines, motors and various industrial products, with South Africa already among the largest exporters to the EU of several affected downstream products. South Africa's carbon tax remains extremely low once allowances and exemptions are taken into account, with research by the Presidential Climate Commission indicating effective carbon prices in South Africa of between US$0.30 and US$2.60/tCO₂e, compared with the global average of about US$6/tCO₂e and EU carbon prices that have frequently exceeded US$60/tCO₂e, meaning South African exporters are likely to receive only limited relief from the mechanism through the deduction mechanism.

Mining companies are facing simultaneous pressure from investors, regulators and customers to reduce carbon emissions while improving operational resilience, with Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions increasingly tied to financing, permitting and even market access, according to Schneider Electric's Cecil Maartens, who notes that companies that can demonstrate lower emissions and stronger sustainability credentials are the ones that will attract capital and partnerships. Technology is playing a central role in enabling low-carbon operations, with digital maturity assessments and energy baselining allowing organisations to identify inefficiencies and prioritise interventions, while integrated platforms can bring together energy management, automation and real-time operational data to drive continuous improvement, with practical interventions including hybrid microgrids supported by battery energy storage systems, electrification initiatives and more energy-efficient equipment such as advanced variable speed drives. Australian iron-ore miner Fortescue has started construction on its 690 MW Turner River solar farm in the Pilbara, which marks the final solar installation required to deliver the company's Real Zero decarbonisation plan, with the company also starting to build a 650 MWh battery energy storage system at the Cloudbreak operation, which complements a 190 MW solar farm, with construction of Turner River expected to be completed in 2028 and the Cloudbreak battery energy storage system expected to be completed in the 2027 financial year.

The International Air Transport Association and the intergovernmental International Civil Aviation Organisation have announced they are deepening their cooperation regarding sustainable aviation fuels, with the development announced at the ICAO Aviation Climate Week on June 4 and focused on increasing transparency in, and the integrity of, sustainable aviation fuels development and deployment progress tracking. Both organisations will investigate how sustainable aviation fuels registries, and the data they collect, can be used to enable the implementation of ICAO's Long-Term Aspirational Goal Monitoring and Reporting methodology, with the aim to establish close collaboration between the global airline industry and the world's States, supported by strong systems and high-quality data, and which will allow credible and transparent tracking of cleaner aviation energies and their contribution to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Volvo has begun on-road testing of heavy trucks powered by hydrogen combustion engines, with commercial launch planned before 2030, with the Swedish truck maker believing its hydrogen-powered trucks will have higher energy efficiency, lower fuel consumption and increased engine power compared with conventional hydrogen combustion engine technology because of high-pressure direct injection, a technology where a small amount of ignition fuel is injected with high pressure to enable compression ignition before hydrogen is added.

Global metals miner Rio Tinto has successfully commissioned its $1.5-billion AP60 smelter expansion at the Complexe Arvida operation in Québec, marking a major milestone for the deployment of low-carbon aluminium smelting technology, with the startup, which began in March, expected to be completed by the end of 2026 with all 96 new pots operating, increasing the plant's production capacity by about 160 000 t/y of primary aluminium for a total of 220 000 t/y produced with the AP60 technology. Developed by Rio Tinto's research and development teams, the AP60 technology is among the most efficient and lowest carbon technology currently available at commercial scale, generating about 1.6 t of CO₂ equivalent per tonne of aluminium produced, compared with approximately 3.2 t of CO₂ equivalent per tonne of aluminium for the Arvida smelter's current technology and the industry average of 10.9 t of CO₂ equivalent per tonne of aluminium produced, with the new plant expected to mitigate 290 000 t/y of carbon emissions compared with the old Arvida smelter.