Decarbonisation efforts in South Africa have focused on Eskom electricity generation and Sasol petrochemical production. However, given the absolute CO2 emissions associated with these operations, as pressure increases to decarbonise all sectors of the economy to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5⁰C by 2050, it will also be necessary for South Africa to decarbonise its transportation sector. This in turn would have an impact on the jobs in the South African liquid fuels value chain. This paper develops an overview of the impact on the jobs in the refining and logistics sectors, due to termination of operations in these sectors for economic and/or decarbonisation reasons. Detailed job data for job numbers and skill levels for different categories of jobs in these sectors are not available in the public domain at this time; however, a study by FTI Consulting, The economic contribution of the downstream oil industry to South Africa in 2019, presents some high-level job data for the Industry. These data have been used in this study.
The research forms part of the Making Sense of Employment in South Africa's Just Energy Transition project. TIPS and WWF South Africa, with the support of GIZ, are implementing an initiative to support policymaking for South Africa's just transition. This focuses on employment and the relevant challenges and opportunities in the country's just energy transition.
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