Germany gives S.Africa $911M to stop using coal last year, now imports coal from S.Africa

[parochial boy]

Are you all saying that it was somehow... wrong for Germany to fund South Africa to stop using coal?

I mean, coal is nasty stuff; and all the more so in South Africa where a lot of it is mined illegally and informally with a consequential huge risk to both the safety and health of the people who are forced to do it in order to survive. Never mind the immense and nasty health consequences that burning the stuff has in the region around Ermelo where this mostly takes place. For various reasons, South Africa has a lot of major issues with its energy provision right now, but moving away from coal is obviously something very important not just for climate reasons but for the health and wellbeing of the people who live in the Mpumalanga coal fields.

[parochial boy]

Yeah exactly, the one doesn't really have a bearing on the other. Germany's failings in its own domestic energy provision doesn't make it wrong to support South Africa reduce its own use of coal.

In fact, considering the degree to which South Africa is dependent on coal and the nefarious impact that this has on the health of already poor people in coal mining regions - I dare say that supporting South Africa in beginning its energy transition is almost more of a priority, certainly something that is totally valuable regardless of the circumstances.