Minerals Council South Africa Launches 2026 Climate Change Position Ahead of COP31 – News and Statistics – IndexBox

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Climate issues are playing a growing role in shaping business practices, said Shalendra Subramoney, senior climate specialist at Minerals Council South Africa, on Friday, October 30, while opening the council’s first Climate Change Day of Learning. The gathering drew climate mitigation representatives from both the public and private sectors.
In the keynote address, Shamini Harrington, the council’s senior executive for environment, health, legacies and employment relations, said mining occupies a central position in both South Africa’s development and the worldwide shift to a lower-carbon economy. She stressed that emissions cuts and resilience-building must go hand in hand with drawing the investment required to build a competitive mining sector, preserve and generate jobs, assist communities and strengthen the country’s economic development, adding that climate ambition and economic progress should mutually reinforce one another.
Harrington observed that mining consumes large amounts of energy and therefore bears a duty to control and lower its own emissions and to withstand the physical effects of a changing climate. She added that the sector simultaneously yields the minerals and metals that underpin electrification, renewable power, infrastructure and technological advances, giving mining a twofold role as both a participant in the transition and a crucial enabler of it.
This twofold role carries particular weight for South Africa, she said, pointing to the country’s development requirements, its need for stronger economic growth and investment, and its demand for reliable, affordable energy, water and logistics. Mining remains deeply woven into the economy, she noted, with the sector employing over 470 000 people in 2025, adding more than R439-billion to GDP and paying R31-billion in taxes.
Those attending ranged from established mining firms to junior miners and exploration companies, which Subramoney called very important given that climate change touches every part of the mining ecosystem.
Subramoney said that while challenges and opportunities vary between companies and commodities, climate factors are increasingly influencing how business is conducted as well as investment, competitiveness and market access. He said this is also creating openings in new technologies, minerals and green value chains. For South African mining, he said, the discussion arrives at a moment when investment and growth are urgently required to curb performance declines witnessed in recent years, reinforce existing operations and open up new opportunities.
Subramoney said the council holds that climate action and growth must reinforce each other, since a growing, investable mining industry is better positioned to decarbonise, build resilience and innovate. He noted that credible climate action increasingly affects competitiveness and market access, and that mining stands on both sides of the transition. The sector must keep cutting emissions and strengthening the resilience of its operations and host communities while supplying the minerals and metals needed globally for the transition, he said, and the ongoing role of coal in South Africa’s energy security and industrial activity must also be recognised.
The council formally introduced its 2026 Climate Change Position, reaffirming its commitment to proceed into implementation. Paseka Mabina of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment outlined the latest climate policy developments in South Africa, including implementation of the Carbon Tax Act and longer-term decarbonisation pathways. Storm Patel, commercial manager at TASC, discussed South Africa’s carbon offsets, while Mohammed Asmaljees of Harmony Gold described practical implementation and financing of renewable energy, which the mining sector is increasingly adopting.
The updated position is framed around South Africa’s status as a developing country under the Paris Agreement, working towards a responsible net zero transition, and was issued ahead of COP31 global climate negotiations in Turkey during November. The 2026 position builds on the council’s 2023 Climate Change Position and reflects a shifting global and domestic landscape. It acknowledges that South Africa’s transition must be practical, economically viable and rooted in the country’s development priorities and natural resource endowments, while enabling the investment and growth needed for a competitive and sustainable mining sector.
South Africa holds many minerals required for a low-carbon future, including platinum group metals, manganese, chrome, iron-ore and vanadium among others. A growing and investable mining sector is described as essential for mobilising the capital needed for decarbonisation and climate resilience while continuing to support jobs, communities and economic development.
This dovetails with the council’s broader Investment and Growth Strategy and its work through the Government-Business Partnership, in which mining is one of three priority growth sectors for revitalising the economy. The updated position continues to acknowledge the importance of reliable and affordable energy, with coal retaining an important role in energy security, the industrial base and the economy as the energy system gradually diversifies towards renewable energy, gas and nuclear. The transition must be carefully managed to enable decarbonisation while safeguarding economic activity, jobs and communities and creating new opportunities for workers and mining regions.
The launch formed part of the 2026 Climate Change Day of Learning, themed Mining, climate action and the road to COP31, which brought together the mining industry, government and climate specialists to discuss climate policy, carbon markets, renewable energy and practical approaches to mining growth and decarbonisation.
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