South Africa has a vast, untapped opportunity to become a powerhouse of green industry on the African continent and to use its influence within global forums, such as the G20 and the BRICS. Through this transformation, South Africa can shake off its unreliable, unaffordable and polluting energy systems and scale up low-carbon clean energy generation that underpins its industrial development. With its large domestic market and regional strengths, South Africa can leverage its existing industrial capacity to unlock opportunities in utility and rooftop solar, utility-scale wind generation and the green industries that will dominate global trade and investment through the 21st century. Despite these opportunities, South Africa faces substantial barriers. High sovereign debt repayment that restricts government spending, overlapping and counteracting regulatory and legal frameworks, aging infrastructure and barriers to regenerating them, powerful incumbents resistant to change and transmission constraints are holding back the country's potential to stake claim within the global green economy.