Training series on how to communicate the Just Energy Transition

The training series was initiated by the South African-German Energy Programme (SAGEN), implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and aimed at South African journalists and communication professionals involved and interested in energy and climate issues.

The goal of this training was to create a pool of knowledge-based journalists and communicators ready to publicize on developments, success stories and challenges with regards to renewable energies (#RE) and green hydrogen (#H2) in the South African context. Over the course of two days, participants gained basic knowledge about climate change and new technologies in groups of 15-20 people. 

Prof. Martin Kaltschmitt from the Harburg University of Technology was the expert responsible for knowledge transfer and taking any questions regarding the future of energy supply. Among other things, he demonstrated how a wind turbine works and how a solar park should be built. Alongside him, German television journalist Juliane Hielscher worked with the participants on strategies for effective storytelling and convincing arguments in public. The South African electricity crises at the moment played a major role in the animated discussions between media professionals and representatives from local authorities, the government administration, non-governmental organisations and the electricity utility ESKOM.

Participants shared their personal hardship and frustrations triggered by load shedding. At the same time, they expressed their doubts that this problem can be solved in the medium term by a completely different type of energy supply. Concerns about jobs in the coal industry came up in the discussions. However, during the varied training agenda where technical details were both explained in an easy-to-understand manner and accompanied by exercises in translating them into understandable language and comprehensible narratives, participants gained a deeper understanding of the fact that the energy transition is above all an opportunity for the overall development of the country. Local experts such as Wendy Poulton (Secretary General of the South African National Energy Association and the Secretariat of the Energy and Green Economy Working Group of the South African BRICS Business Council), Laurens Cloete (senior consultant with Rebel Group in South Africa) and Celeste Renaud (expert in Environmental Policy of South Africa’s just energy transition at consulting company Meridian), provided information about the considerations and plans behind the key term JET.

Many of the participants heard for the first time how far the country's potential has already been analysed. Some were oblivious to the great gift of nature of more than 300 days of sun per year and around three-thousand kilometers of coastline with almost ideal conditions for producing wind energy. This may be down to the fact that most of the media in South Africa is currently reporting exclusively about the poor energy supply and about the tragic consequences of extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. The connection between climate change and modern solutions are rarely mentioned in the reporting according to the analysis of the two well-known TV personalities Uveka Rangappa and Dan Moyane, who examined the reporting of the media world in South Africa in a digression. Information and reports about the potential and opportunities of renewable energies are wantonly neglected. This also explained the predominantly skeptical or indifferent attitude within large sections of South African society.

There is only one way of combatting this disinterest: clear, understandable and above all interesting information about the energy transition. When people are spoken to at an emotional level, their interest is piqued. Only once they can understand what impact climate change has on their personal life will they become interested in climate action. And only when they become aware of the advantages of renewable energies will they be prepared to endorse this path in socio-political terms. Some new communication methods were therefore tested during the training units. This includes in particular a target group-oriented approach and the description of a positive vision for the future. For the energy sector, this can be expressed in simple words: the country has unlimited resources of clean, green energy at its disposal in the form of sun and wind. Building new power plants and a new grid will ensure that everyone in South Africa has enough electricity at all times. Green electricity will be affordable. In addition, green electricity can be used to produce green hydrogen, which can be sold in liquid form all over the world and thus become a future source of income for the country. And last but not least, this major transformation of the energy system will require a great deal of human effort. And so at the end of a training session, one participant came up with the simple but effective headline: “jobs jobs jobs”.