A new survey of 1 477 business executives from 15 countries, including South Africa, indicates that corporates now overwhelmingly view the transition from fossil fuels to renewable electricity as key to their future competitiveness, as well as a driver of investment decision-making.

Commissioned by E3G, Beyond Fossil Fuels and We Mean Business Coalition, and conducted by research and advisory company Savanta, the poll also highlights that countries risk losing investment and jobs should their government’s fail to outline policies that signal their intention to transition to renewables.

Titled ‘Powering up: Business perspectives on shifting to renewable electricity’, half of respondents even indicated that they would relocate their operations and supply chains to markets with better access to renewables-based power systems within five years.

Presenting the findings during a webinar, We Mean Business Coalition director Molly Walton reported that 97% of executives from medium and large companies supported moving away from coal and other fossil fuels, while 78% of respondents supported a shift to a renewables-based electricity system by 2035 or sooner.

Energy security emerged as an important driver, with 75% of the executives polled associating renewables with improved energy security.

A total of 77% of respondents also linked renewables to economic growth, while 75% see renewables as key to job creation.

“More than two-fifths of mid-sized and large businesses plan to transition away from using coal within their own operations by 2030, with over one-quarter intending to follow suit by 2035,” Walton stated.

Eighty-seven per cent of business executives surveyed want their governments to prioritise investments in renewables and to stop using coal-fired electricity within the next decade, while 67% want coal phased out and replaced with renewables, grids and storage rather than investments in new gas infrastructure.

Of the 104 South African senior executives polled, 80% indicated that they would prefer government to prioritise renewable electricity investments over new fossil-fuel financing.

A total of 95% of these South African executives thought government should transition away from fossil fuels to a renewables-based electricity system, with 80% indicating that this should be done within the coming ten years.

Speaking during the launch, National Business Initiative CEO Shameela Soobramony indicated that many South African firms were also currently concerned about the fact that they could be negatively affected by carbon border adjustment mechanisms (CBAM), owing to the country’s ongoing dependence on coal.

She said the recent increase in tariffs by the US had highlighted the threat that import restrictions posed to a small, trading economy; a risk that could be compounded by the introduction of CBAM measures by some of South Africa’s key trading partners.

The cost competitiveness of renewable technologies such as wind and solar PV, and South Africa’s favourable wind and solar resources, presented an opportunity, but there was a need for greater policy coherence to stimulate the investments required to unlock that opportunity.

South Africa’s high levels of unemployment and inequality also meant that social justice policies and actions would need to accompany the country’s transition from coal to renewables.