South Africa has picked Crispian Olver as the new deputy chairman of the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) from Nov. 1.
Olver has been the body’s executive director since is inception almost four years ago and will replace Valli Moosa, who retired earlier this year.
South Africa is the world’s 15th-biggest producer of climate-warming greenhouse gases and has one of the world’s most carbon-intensive economies.
It’s implementing a $9.3-billion initiative to slash its over-reliance on coal in partnership with some of the world’s richest nations.
The PCC was established following the Presidential Jobs Summit in 2018 as a multi-stakeholder body tasked with coordinating South Africa’s climate strategy. It was formally instituted as a public entity under the Climate Change Act, signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July 2024.