Sasol on the Environmental Hot Seat

Environmental activists are bringing pressure to bare on South Africa’s Sasol to develop a climate strategy. Theo Botha, a company shareholder, was the latest to weigh in on the debate. Botha raised concerns at Sasol’s annual general meeting about the level of Sasol’s commitment to reducing emissions.

According to Botha, the company’s 2005 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 10% by 2015 is “setting the bar too low” meaning it would take 100 years for the company to reach zero emissions. Botha said that company had said as far back as 2000 that it would reduce emissions by 10% and the figure has not been revised upward in seven years, although the company’s greenhouse emissions had risen.

Sasol is the second largest emitter of carbon dioxide in South Africa after Eskom.

Climate-change interest groups in dialogue with Sasol have questioned the sustainability of the group’s business model, urging it to focus product offering on “mobility” rather than fossil fuels, a suggestion the group turned down.

Activists say little indication has been seen in Sasol’s recently released sustainability report that it plans to make any concrete capital commitments to mitigate the effects of greenhouse emissions. Although in the report, Sasol listed the need to address climate change as one of four key sustainability focus areas, but it did not commit to a timeline.