24 October 2025, Johannesburg — South Africa is scaling up investment in its low-carbon and climate-resilient transition, according to The South African Climate Finance Landscape 2025, a technical report prepared for the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC), published by Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and GreenCape, and funded by Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
The 2025 edition builds on the previous Landscapes published in 2021 and 2023, offering the first biannual updates on South Africa’s national climate finance tracking effort. The report provides the most detailed mapping to date of public and private climate investments in South Africa, tracking finance flows by source, instrument, and sector. The report utilizes CPI’s global methodology, aligning with the South African Green Finance Taxonomy and, for the first time, tracking just transition-aligned investments. The report provides a clear, empirical-based representation of both the progress and the persistent gaps that need to be addressed to advance South Africa’s climate transition within the Just Transition Framework.
The findings show that annual climate finance reached an average of ZAR 188.3 billion over the 2022-2023 tracking period, underpinned by continued private sector investment in clean energy, predominantly renewables. This reflects the impact of policy reforms, improved capacity for project risk assessment and financing, and investors’ confidence to back South Africa’s energy transition.
However, the report also brings persistent imbalances into sharp focus. More than 70% of total flows went to energy, while less than 10% supported critical adaptation priorities in water, transport, and agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Estimates of South Africa’s annual investment needs to meet its NDCs and long-term net-zero goals range widely, reaching up to ZAR 499 billion, implying an annual financing gap of up to ZAR 311 billion, with adaptation and just transition measures the most underfunded.
“South Africa’s climate finance story reflects both progress and potential,” said Dr. Barbara Buchner, Global Managing Director at CPI. “Momentum is building across clean energy, resilience, and innovation, offering huge economic opportunities for emerging markets. But to deliver a truly just transition, unlocking private and concessional finance at scale will be key.”
“Increased climate finance flows into critical sectors in South Africa are a reflection of the increasing opportunities and improving business cases for investment. Many of the Operation Vulindlela reforms have supported these increased flows. GreenCape is thrilled to provide support to this report, having also published market intelligence that highlights emerging investment opportunities for climate finance in adaptation and mitigation,” said Mike Mulcahy, GreenCape CEO.
The findings arrive as South Africa prepares to host the G20 Summit (22–23 November), the first ever on African soil. With climate action, debt sustainability, and poverty reduction high on the agenda, the Landscape offers critical evidence to guide investment strategies and partnerships across the continent.
The South African Climate Finance Landscape 2025 underscores the importance of data-driven policymaking and transparent finance tracking to accelerate the just energy transition and strengthen resilience. It serves as a vital input for decision-makers in government, finance, and development as South Africa moves from commitment to implementation on climate and growth.
About the report:
The South African Climate Finance Landscape 2025 maps climate finance flows for 2022–2023, covering mitigation, adaptation, and just transition investments. It was developed by Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and GreenCape for the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC).
Media contact:
Climate Policy Initiative
Jana Stupperich
Senior Communications Associate
jana.stupperich@cpiglobal.org
GreenCape
Cilnette Pienaar
Head of Communications and Publishing
cilnette@green-cape.co.za
