Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Eskom Holdings (Eskom) is actively engaged on climate-related policy in South Africa, with both positive and negative positions. The company has been continuously unsupportive of South Africa’s Carbon Tax Act and continues to advocate for fossil fuels in the energy mix alongside renewable energy.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Eskom appears to have broadly positive top-line messaging on climate change. In its December 2024 Sustainability Report, Eskom appeared to support greenhouse gas emissions reductions in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, and also supported the goals of the Paris Agreement in the same report. In its December 2024 Integrated Report, it appeared to support government regulation to respond to climate change in South Africa.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Eskom has supported some climate regulations while taking unsupportive positions on others. Eskom has consistently been unsupportive of the Carbon Tax Act in South Africa. In a November 2024 parliamentary deliberation on the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (TLAB), policymakers suggested that Eskom had requested to delay the implementation of the carbon tax. Further, in its October 2023 Integrated Report, Eskom disclosed that after having responded to a consultation on the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, it had influenced the extension of carbon tax deductions for generators of electricity from fossil fuels that purchase renewable energy through to December 2025. This extension weakens the climate ambition of the policy.
In its December 2024 Sustainability Report, Eskom stated that it has been actively engaged with policymakers on South Africa’s Climate Change Bill, but offered no position on the regulation. In the same report, it expressed support for the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPP).
Positioning on Energy Transition: Eskom appears to support the role of both renewables and fossil fuels in the energy mix in South Africa, with support for a just transition away from coal, albeit with ambiguities. Eskom appears to be adopting increasingly science-aligned positions on coal since South Africa’s November 2021 announcement at COP26 that it had agreed to an £8.5 billion international deal to end its reliance on coal. However, recently it has advocated to policymakers, and in its corporate reporting, for a technology neutral approach to the energy transition that explores all energy technologies including fossil fuels.
For example, in a June 2025 briefing to the South African Standing Committee on Appropriations, Eskom advocated for diversified energy generation including “renewables, gas, and clean coal technologies,” and highlighted that gas will be required during peak hours, and clean coal technologies will form part of the energy plan. Eskom’s CEO Dan Marokane has reiterated this position throughout 2025 so far, stating in a March 2025 speech that the energy transition is “not an issue of coal or renewables, you actually need to have a blend” and that all technologies available must be embraced.
Additionally, as reported by CNBC in June 2024, Eskom announced that it planned on extending the life of three of its coal-fired power plants to 2030, rather than decommissioning prior to 2030 as planned. Eskom stated that it was “nearly impossible from a technical and political economy perspective” to decommission the three stations on time.
Industry Association Governance: Eskom has not disclosed a list of industry association memberships. Eskom is a member of the National Business Initiative, which has positively engaged on climate change policy in South Africa, and the Energy Council of South Africa, which has actively advocated for the continued role of fossil gas in South Africa’s energy mix.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q3 2025.
Additional Note: Eskom is a listed company with more than 50% of its shares owned by the government of South Africa. State-owned enterprises likely retain channels of direct and private engagement with government officials that InfluenceMap is unable to assess, and therefore are not represented in Eskom's engagement intensity metric.