Germany will give €700 million (R12.5 billion) towards helping South Africa phase out the use of coal, the German delegation at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Reuters reported.

The aim of the funding is to mobilise a total of R130 billion together with the World Bank and private investors to promote developing renewable energy sources in the country, said Maria Flachsbarth, Germany’s parliamentary state secretary for development aid.

The money would also be used to expand and modernise electricity networks and help miners deal with the economic consequences of the phase-out there.

The commitment follows a column in the Financial Times by president Cyril Ramaphosa in which he said that South Africa is committed to a move to green energy but will be heavily dependent on funding from other countries to achieve its goals.

“South Africa’s ambitions cannot be achieved without the more developed economies meeting promises they have made to provide financial assistance to developing economies in their energy transition,” he said

“This help must come in the form of grants, loans at concessional rates and private investment from international and local pools of finance. We are encouraged by the commitment that many of our international partners have shown to support this transition and to develop models of collaboration that could be applied in other countries.”

Ramaphosa said that this was not about charity but fairness and mutual benefit.

“Countries with developed economies carry the greatest responsibility for climate change because they have historically been the biggest polluters. Developing economies are the worst affected.”