Contrary to a rash assertion, coal companies are not in denial about climate change
US tech billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates reflected some time back that headlines can be misleading, because bad news makes a good headline while gradual improvement generally does not. Sometimes superficial comments get airtime, whereas more considered thinking on complex and intractable issues often do not.
It is a fact that the company I serve, Seriti, is a major coal producer. We are responsible for a portion of Eskom’s coal supply, and in this way play our part in keeping SA’s lights on. About 16,000 employees and contractors earn their livelihoods from carrying out this work. And we contribute in various ways to improving the quality of life of members of the communities surrounding our operations.
In our case, thinking has translated into a couple of actions that we’d be happy to discuss with the Presidential Climate Commission. First, in line with the establishment of our subsidiary, Seriti Green, last October, Seriti, Exxaro and Eskom signed a memorandum of understanding committing the parties to pursue the development of renewable energy projects to lower their carbon footprint at their operations.
Seriti began life as a coal company. Seriti is no longer a coal company. We are a diversified energy company. We remain a company much of whose operational activities involve mining coal, which will remain the basis of SA’s energy baseload for some time to come. And for as long as there is value in our coal export operations they will continue.
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