CEO Voice April 2021

CEO Voice April 2021

Dear Members,

We have started strengthening our communication messaging around the environmental and climate benefits of wind power. This aligns with leading wind energy corporates and associations around the world, in a campaign led by GWEC termed, Global Wind Energy Coalition for COP26.

The campaign incorporates activities to assist governments, economies and communities to remove barriers to massively scaling-up investments in wind power, in order to reach Net Zero targets and halt global warming. The campaign focuses on:

• A campaign to highlight the essential role of wind power on the road to net zero, including a website populated with resources and materials to help amplify the voice of the global wind industry in the run-up to COP26;
• Intensified engagement with policymakers in key onshore and offshore wind markets, to create wind energy acceleration plans, including more ambitious capacity targets and sensible regulation for project development;
• Cross-sector collaboration with other technologies and heavy industries, with concrete joint commitments that work towards system-wide decarbonisation in a global renewable energy alliance;
• A global Sprint for Offshore Wind Ambition to support governments across the world in setting concrete targets, which can deliver the global 1,400 GW target by 2050, set by the Ocean Renewable Energy Action Coalition; and
• The creation of a ‘Global Wind Energy Hub’ at COP26 in Glasgow, UK, providing a platform for the wind industry to host events, meetings, and other activities throughout the conference to engage with key policymakers and stakeholders.

At a local level we will strengthen our efforts to collaborate with climate-focused organisations in order to align our campaign efforts, in the lead up to COP 26. There is a great need to decarbonize the South African power system, and wind energy has a huge role to play.

To-date, our wind energy campaign has focused on the cost of wind power as a main point of promoting the sector, however, as costs have already reduced substantially, there is a need to shift focus to the environmental and climate change benefits, in order to align with Paris Agreement and Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs).

Kind Regards,
Ntombifuthi Ntuli
CEO (SAWEA)