Report alleges that some of South Africa’s largest corporate actors have, over the past two decades, both publicly and privately, attempted to obstruct the development and implementation of effective climate policy by the government. It outlines what it describes as a history of industry interventions in climate-related regulatory processes. The report draws on corporate submissions to draft legislation and records of meetings with government officials which the authors obtained through requests under the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The report further claims that these efforts, primarily attributed to Sasol Limited and industry bodies such as Business Unity South Africa and the Minerals Council South Africa, contributed to significant regulatory delays and concessions. According to the report, these alleged actions have weakened the effectiveness of the Carbon Tax Act 15 of 2019 and the Climate Change Act 22 of 2024.

According to the report, the corporate strategy, termed the "Obstruction Playbook," employs three main framing tactics: emphasizing polluters’ "positive contributions" to society, leveraging South Africa’s status as a developing economy to argue for slower action, and advocating for a "paced and scaled" approach to climate policy that prioritizes business interests. These arguments create a false dichotomy between climate action and economic prosperity, ignoring the just transition’s aim to foster sustainable growth. The report notes the absence of significant countervailing voices from sectors like renewable energy, agriculture, or tourism, allowing high emitters to dominate policy discussions. This influence, facilitated by South Africa’s lack of regulations on corporate lobbying transparency, has led to policies that fail to hold polluters accountable, leaving the country economically vulnerable and misaligned with global decarbonization efforts.

To address these issues, the report proposes three urgent actions: enhancing transparency and accountability in government-industry interactions, diversifying stakeholder engagement to include non-polluting sectors, and adopting evidence-based policy assessments to counter industry narratives. These reforms aim to restore balance in climate policymaking and accelerate South Africa’s just transition, as emphasized by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call for a green industrial agenda. The report underscores the profound implications of continued policy failures, including trade barriers, loss of investment, and severe climate impacts, which threaten South Africa’s economic competitiveness and environmental sustainability in a rapidly decarbonizing global market.