## FMC publishes white paper on Decarbonizing South Africa’s Shipping and Trucking Sectors with virtual panel discussion

3 July 2024

The First Movers Coalition has published a white paper on “Decarbonizing South Africa’s shipping and trucking sectors”. The white paper was the result of a workshop that FMC held in South Africa on surfacing the supply of zero-emission fuels and clean technologies . To accompany the publication of its white paper, FMC hosted a virtual panel discussion with key stakeholders active in the public and private sectors in South Africa .The white paper presents the findings and recommendations of FMC’s workshop held in South Africa in March 2024 on surfacing the supply of zero-emission fuels and clean technologies – with shipping and trucking as the key FMC sectors in focus. Here are three key-takeaways from the report:- Global policy certainty can make up for local policy uncertainty, and vice versaSouth Africa has the opportunity to become a production and bunkering hub for maritime fuels as well as on-land decarbonisation. Leveraging this opportunity for shipping and trucking can create real synergy impacts. Geographic locations can become integrated decarbonisation lighthouses for both sectors. It is important that South Africa engages in the necessary negotiations in global policy to open up opportunities at a domestic level. This especially applies for necessary infrastructure changes, such as ports, charging stations and electricity grid.- There is potential for a Just Energy Transition Investment Plan, leveraging the power of green hydrogenThe development of green hydrogen and its derivatives could be a cornerstone of the post-fossil economy. The green economy value chain supports a wide range of use cases, including the future needs of heavy manufacturing, transport, fuel cells and heat. Together, this can send a strong combined demand signal. It also has the potential to drive economic growth by increasing GDP by around 6% and creating 1.8 million jobs by 2050.  South Africa could be a role model in the just energy transition, solving domestic challenges by balancing economic growth and climate change. - The opportunities for zero emission trucks are only an advantage if we seize itSouth Africa has a strong truck production industry, as well as logistics and rich mineral and renewable energy resources. It has a unique opportunity to stimulate economic growth by manufacturing and operating zero emission trucks, but inadequate infrastructure, power instability and a complex emerging global policy framework can hinder that progress. Despite these challenges, increasing local and global momentum towards decarbonisation is leading the South African government to develop strategies that will solve for these obstacles.To accompany the launch of the white paper, FMC hosted a virtual panel discussion with key decision-makers from both the public and private sectors to share insights on the transition to green technologies in the context of South Africa's unique challenges and opportunities. The session delved into strategies to surface and accelerate the supply of net-zero emissions technologies within South Africa.Watch the full panel discussion here:

Key quotes from the panel discussion:“It's important to have an approach where we explore all the possibilities instead of looking to different sectors in silos, making sure that we take a transversal approach and see where opportunity lies in different ongoing negotiations.”Concepcion Boo AriasDirector Global Partnerships and ESG, Public & Regulatory Affairs, Maersk“It's not just the individual projects, but an ecosystem that we are busy decarbonizing. Industries are interconnected. We're talking about shipping and trucking, but these industries are all connected, for example, to steel and aluminium industries, which are hard to abate industries and they themselves need to decarbonize or it could pose a risk to South Africa. These industries need to transition as well, positioning themselves for the future. We can't wait for our energy mix to transition to renewables before we invest in these technologies and industries. If we wait too long, we're going to miss the boat. We need to start making the investments now, collectively transitioning towards a low carbon emission economy.”Nathan FredericksSenior Industry Planner, Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa“The energy transition is a mega trend. It needs real multibillion dollar investment platforms and mega funds to deliver South Africa's $20 billion portfolio of green hydrogen projects and even larger opportunities that sit around renewables. There is a need to continue creating an emphasis around how we communicate the opportunity in the best and most structured fashion to the global institutional investment community. That is going to be the only pool of capital big enough to drive these ambitious projects.”Dr. Hubert DansoChief Executive Officer and Chairman of Africa Investor Group