SA is among countries such as India and the US that risk divestment if their governments continue to rely on fossil fuel-based electricity, a global survey has found.
The “Powering up: Business perspectives on shifting to renewable electricity” survey noted businesses consider a country’s readiness for the transition when deciding where to invest. This includes the possibility of relocating if governments fail to get their green act together.
Commissioned by climate think-tank E3G, Beyond Fossil Fuels and the We Mean Business Coalition, the survey was conducted by global research firm Savanta. It polled 1,477 executives from medium and large companies with annual revenues of at least $1m across 15 countries — including SA — between December 2 2024 and January 3 2025.
Sample sizes ranged from 50-112 respondents per country, with SA's sample comprising 105 business executives.
The online questionnaire drew responses from a broad cross-section of industries. Nearly a third of participants came from the IT and communications sector, followed by manufacturing and mining (14%), finance and insurance (11%), and construction and real estate (10%). Other sectors included services, retail, logistics, healthcare, education, energy and utilities.
The message from surveyed business leaders was clear: if governments fail to accelerate the energy transition, companies will take matters into their own hands, even if it means exiting markets where access to renewable electricity is not readily available, with potentially major repercussions for national competitiveness and inward investment.
Over half (52%) of surveyed executives, globally, said they would relocate operations within five years if their home markets lacked access to renewable electricity. Nearly half (49%) would move supply chains for the same reason, with 89% saying they could do so within ten years.
The report identified SA — along with India, Indonesia, Turkey and the US — as “conspicuous examples” of G20 countries at risk of capital flight.
Currently about 80% of SA’s electricity generation derives from coal, and according to the survey report, this makes SA “the fourth largest per capita emitter from coal-fired electricity in the G20”.
“Among business leaders in SA who want their government to prioritise new investment in renewables, 86% support phasing out coal from electricity generation by 2035,” the country-specific report read.
According to the report, policy choices in the next decade will be pivotal, as SA prepares to retire its ageing, unreliable coal-fired plants to reduce costs, cut air pollution, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Concerns over the EU’s new carbon border tax also loomed large. Executives feared that surcharges on exports could undermine the competitiveness of SA businesses and hurt trade.
About 74% of SA executives surveyed said they would prefer investment in renewables over fossil gas. Nearly eight in 10 (79%) said they support replacing coal directly with renewables, grids and storage — rather than using gas as a “stopgap”.
“At present, solar and wind comprise only 12% of total electricity production, which is below the G20 average (15%). According to business sector respondents, a renewables-based power system would have the effect of creating new jobs (76%), making electricity prices more stable and affordable for all (72%), and enhancing public health and safety (70%) — all of which line up with the country’s long-standing development priorities,” the report stated.
The survey acknowledged the government’s 2023 Just Energy Transition Investment Plan as “a welcome push in this direction.”
But business leaders wanted more detail.
“The upcoming new national climate plan provides an opportunity — and one that other G20 countries will be watching closely in light of SA’s current presidency of the bloc,” the report stated.
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