Projects

Our activities in South Africa are part of the Global Project Sustainable Economic Transformation and Sustainable Finance.

South Africa’s sustainable finance strategy is driven by the National Treasury through an Interdepartmental Sustainable Finance Working Group. It brings together regulators and public-sector bodies to align financial policy with national climate and sustainability goals. A key foundation for this work is the 2021 Technical Paper on Financing a Sustainable Economy, which recommended developing a green finance taxonomy, strengthening disclosure, and aligning financial flows with sustainability objectives.

With regard to disclosure, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) – through the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), as custodian of the Companies Act 71 of 2008 – has concluded its Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) to evaluate whether and how to integrate the ISSB Sustainability Disclosure Standards (IFRS S1 & IFRS S2) into the Companies Act. DTIC’s work complements ongoing efforts by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) to move from voluntary to mandatory ESG and climate-related corporate disclosures. Current voluntary sustainability disclosure frameworks include the King Code of Corporate Governance IV and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Sustainability and Climate Disclosure Guidance (2022) – amongst others.

The National Treasury’s Green Finance Taxonomy (2022) provides another relevant tool for guiding sustainable investment by defining which economic activities can be considered environmentally sustainable in South Africa. Collectively, these initiatives aim to strengthen investor confidence, establish an enabling environment for sustainable finance and support South Africa’s broader transition to a low-carbon, just, and resilient economy.

GIZ will support the development of a national Sustainability Reporting Roadmap, focusing on but not limited to the ISSB Standards (IFRS S1 and IFRS S2). The Roadmap will outline which entities are subject to the reporting requirements, define what sustainability-related information must be reported, and specify how and when disclosures should be made. For example, it would determine which entities must report by which date, in which format, the required reporting scope, and the level of assurance to be complied with. It also includes information on the national roll-out of capacity-building activities supporting high-quality implementation – this can include data collection efforts, establishing enforcement mechanisms and upskilling assurance professionals.

GIZ also supports topical assessments and analysis that inform the content of the Roadmap, for example, an assessment on the degree of misalignment between the ISSB Standards, the requirements mandated by the voluntary reporting frameworks currently used in South Africa and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The Sustainability Reporting Roadmap will be one fundamental reference for the intended change of the Companies Act

• Sustainability Reporting Roadmap