Overview of CSI spend on environment in 2023

Trialogue conducts annual research into CSI spend on each development sector in South Africa. In 2023, 68 large companies participated in Trialogue’s primary research survey. According to the research, environment was supported by 37% of companies and received 3% of average CSI expenditure.

National context of environment in South Africa

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) was allocated R9.9 billion in 2023/24, constituting 0.4% of the consolidated government expenditure of R2.24 trillion for the year. There are nine sectors under the purview of the DFFE with the Environmental Programmes sector receiving the largest portion of R3.3 billion, followed by Biodiversity and Conservation which received R2.1 billion.
• The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Conference of the Parties (COP27) took place in November 2022 in Egypt where it was agreed that a dedicated Loss and Damage Fund would be established for vulnerable countries heavily affected by floods, droughts and other climate-related disasters.
• According to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), as at December 2022 coal provided 80% of the total electricity generated in South Africa’s energy mix, with renewables, including hydro, accounting for 13%.
• The South African Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP) is a five-year plan (2023 to 2027) in partnership with France, Germany, the UK, US and EU which aims to support South Africa’s decarbonisation efforts and help achieve its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) emission goals. The JET IP presents the priority investment requirements in the electricity, new energy vehicles and green hydrogen sectors.
• In 2022, there were 205 days of loadshedding, according to the Outlier loadshedding calendar. By August 2023, there had already been 204 days of loadshedding.
• At the 15th BRICS Summit convened in August 2023 in Gauteng, President Xi Jinping of China agreed to support South Africa in addressing the energy crisis through a donation of emergency power equipment worth R167 million and a grant of R500 million.
• The UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) took place in December 2022 in Canada where the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was adopted. The GBF’s ‘30×30’ target to conserve at least 30% of land, freshwater and oceans globally by 2030, aims to address biodiversity loss, restore ecosystems and protect indigenous people’s rights.
• The DFFE attended the UN Environment Assembly in Kenya in February 2022 and confirmed that South Africa is amongst 175 countries committed to developing an internationally legally binding plastic treaty. According to the DFFE, “in South Africa, approximately 80 000 tons of plastic leak into rivers and our oceans as a result of failures in our waste management system”.
• South Africa’s Air Quality Index (AQI) as at October 2023 was 1.2 times above the recommended WHO limit and in 2022, South Africa ranked 41 out of 141 countries (with 1 being the worst).

Overview of CSI spend

Environment was supported by 37% of companies and received 3% of average CSI expenditure.

Area of intervention

Average % CSI environment spend 2023 n=15

20% Non-specific general donations

19% Water conservation/ westlands management

18% Waste management/ recycling

10% Infrastructure, facilities and equipment

10% Biodiversity/alien clearing

8% Awareness programmes

7% Climate change

5% Wildlife conservation

2% Urban greening

1% Other

• Non-specific general donations received the largest share of CSI spend in the environmental sector (20%), with water conservation and wetlands management (19%) and waste management and recycling (18%) receiving similar portions of average spend in 2023.
• Climate change (7%) and wildlife conservation (5%) received lower average spend in 2023 than in 2022 (11% and 14% respectively).

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Source: The original version of this article was published in the Trialogue Business in Society Handbook 2023 (26th edition).