South Africa

• Treasury opens consultation on a domestic carbon-credit market. National Treasury published a paper outlining reforms to modernise South Africa’s carbon-credit infrastructure, clarify the legal and financial framework, and catalyse a high-integrity secondary market. Comments are invited from market participants and regulators.
• Eskom issues a tender for a hybrid wind–solar microgrid. The utility released a tender this week to procure a complete hybrid microgrid facility—another step in the pipeline of distributed and utility-scale renewables Eskom has been advancing since its renewable offtake programme launched in August.
• Severe convective storms highlight climate-risk exposure. Forecasts and reports flagged damaging winds, large hail and flash flooding for parts of Gauteng and Free State during 4–5 November, with multiple incidents recorded—re-emphasising weather resilience, business continuity and insurance preparedness for issuers.

Global

• Brazil’s COP30 forest-finance push gains traction. Brazil’s finance minister said mobilising US$10 billion in year one for the new Tropical Forests Forever Facility is “possible,” with the World Bank poised to act as trustee. The facility aims to crowd in US$125 billion to reward forest preservation.
• Civil-society analysis: Just-transition funding still tiny. ActionAid reported that <3% of international climate aid supports a “just transition” for workers and communities, urging governance changes ahead of COP30 to channel finance to frontline groups.
• UN and multilaterals push to close the adaptation-finance gap. UNEP and partners stressed that adaptation needs in developing countries are 12–14× current finance flows; the Green Climate Fund, for its part, highlighted a record year exceeding US$3 billion in approvals as momentum builds into COP30.
• Investors call for an International Minerals Agency. A coalition of mining investors proposed an independent body modelled on the IEA to improve data, standards and accountability in critical-minerals supply chains—a rising governance theme for transition materials.
• EU deforestation rule: pressure around timelines and scope. With the law due to start for large operators in December 2025, business groups are calling for delays while NGOs urge the Commission to “hold the line,” keeping compliance signals front-and-centre for commodity-exposed exporters.

What this means for South African Heads of ESG

• Financing & markets: Engage early with Treasury’s carbon-market consultation—credible, high-integrity credits (and clear accounting) will matter for both cost-of-capital and transition plans.
• Operational resilience: The week’s hail and storm episodes underscore acute physical-risk management—stress-test sites, fleets and logistics; review insurance limits and incident playbooks before the summer storm season peaks.
• Decentralised energy: Eskom’s microgrid tender signals ongoing opportunity in behind-the-meter and community solutions—use this to pilot resilience projects tied to measurable SAIDI/SAIFI and emissions outcomes.
• Global policy watch: COP30 forest-finance architecture, adaptation-finance signals, and EU deforestation rules all affect disclosure, sourcing and nature-risk strategies—map exposure and prepare board-level updates.