South Africa, the continent’s biggest emitter, has set a target to reduce its emissions to between 350-million and 420-million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year by 2030. Greenhouse gas equivalent is a measure used to standardise the effects of various greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

The world needs to limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere to stop temperatures from rising above the 1.5°C target set at the United Nations Paris climate meeting in 2015. 193 countries have set targets to cut their emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

In 2020, Climate Watch estimated South Africa’s emissions at 500 million tonnes a year. South Africa contributes almost 20% to Africa’s greenhouse gas emissions. The second biggest emitters are Nigeria and Egypt. Electricity generation is the biggest contributor to South Africa’s emissions because of its reliance on coal.