The US Leaves the Just Energy Transition Partnerships. South Africa's Pledge Pool Falls From $13.8 Billion to $12.8 Billion

The United States has withdrawn from the Just Energy Transition Partnerships, the multi-donor arrangements set up between 2021 and 2022 to finance faster retirement of coal power and investment in clean electricity in South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam. The decision follows executive orders issued in January that rescinded US international climate finance commitments. South Africa's government said on 6 March that it noted the decision. The South African JETP was announced at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, initially with $8.5 billion of pledges, and later expanded.

Each partnership was built around a national investment plan setting out priorities such as new transmission, renewable generation, early retirement of coal plants, and support for workers. The US pledge in South Africa was about $1 billion, according to South Africa's project management unit, much of it expected to come in the form of commercial investment facilitated by US agencies rather than direct grants. Because a substantial share of the pledged totals in all three partnerships depends on private investment, the headline figures have always overstated what would be disbursed directly by governments.

South Africa's statements were measured, emphasising that the partnership continues with other donors. The International Partners Group statement on South Africa said the remaining partners would continue to work with the South African government and that the partnership is focused on supporting the country's own priorities for its power sector. For South Africa, the stakes are tied to the condition of its electricity system. The direct financial effect of the US exit is modest relative to the overall pledge totals and to the investment each country needs.

For coal markets, the JETPs were never expected to cause abrupt changes in demand. The JETP withdrawal is one of several changes in US international climate finance in early 2025. For developing countries preparing new NDCs for COP30, many of which include targets conditional on international finance, the reduction in available concessional funding is likely to shape how ambitious those conditional targets are and how quickly any coal retirements proceed.