Greenpeace opposes Eskom compliance delay

Greenpeace Africa is opposing Eskom's application for postponements and suspensions from complying with South Africa's Minimum Emission Standards (MES). In statement on Tuesday, Greenpeace Africa said it has, "submitted comments to Naledzi Environmental Consultants opposing Eskom's application for postponements and suspensions from complying with South Africa's Minimum Emission Standards (MES)".The non-profit environment protection organisation said between April 2016 and December 2017, Eskom's 17 coal-fired power stations reported nearly 3 200 days when they exceeded their daily Atmospheric Emissions Licenses limits for particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen."The MES, which are relatively weak, are designed to improve air quality in the country, but this has been significantly compromised by Eskom's almost complete reliance on coal for electricity production and repeated requests for postponements from complying," said the statement."Greenpeace Africa is vehemently opposed to Eskom's application for further postponements and/or suspensions from air quality legislation. In the interests of realising our constitutional right to a healthy environment, absolutely no further postponements should be given to Eskom (or, indeed, any other entity)."Eskom should either comply with the MES or its coal-fired power stations must be retired (at an accelerated pace) because thousands of people's lives are on the line," warned Melita Steele, senior climate and energy campaign manager for Greenpeace Africa.Steele said Eskom was granted a five-year postponement from compliance in 2015, and the embattled utility was now applying for yet another set of postponements, and in some cases, complete suspensions from complying."While we acknowledge that Eskom is in crisis, we can no longer ignore the deadly impacts of Eskom's dirty fleet of coal-fired power stations. It is unacceptable that in Eskom's application, the utility is significantly downplaying the health impacts and premature deaths from their coal-fired power stations," said Steele.Mpumalanga province in South Africa is the largest NO2 air pollution hotspot in the world, as new satellite data assessed by Greenpeace showed for the period of 1 June to 31 August 2018. -Nampa/ANA

Greenpeace opposes Eskom compliance delay

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-16

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Greenpeace opposes Eskom compliance delay

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-16

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