Rich nations “understand” South Africa’s immediate need to keep coal-fired power plants running longer to cope with power outages despite an $8.5 billion clean energy transition deal, a German government spokesman told Climate Home. However, they warned the South African government not to back down from a clear commitment to reducing long-term emissions. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last week he said parliament that the timetable for the transition away from coal “needs to be reconsidered” as the country struggles with crippling daily power outages. The US, UK, EU, Germany and France contribute financial resources on a groundbreaking plan known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JetP) to clean up South Africa's coal-dependent electricity system. (Matteo Civillini)