Eskom's proposed transmission line in Limpopo illustrates the cruel paradox of South Africa's energy dilemma: a coal-dependent grid already fuelling climate change is now being expanded in ways that further destroy biodiversity.

South Africa stands at a crossroads. On one side lies the urgent need to stabilise the country's electricity supply; on the other is a critically pressing obligation to safeguard biodiversity as a vital prerequisite for continued life on Earth - a commitment enshrined in the 2023 White Paper on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Reserve, a Unesco-designated conservation area, to safeguard the future for the next generations of all species, including our own.

Now, these two imperatives are colliding head-on.

Eskom, South Africa's state-owned power utility, is pursuing a 131km, 400kV transmission line through Limpopo's Mopani and Sekhukhune districts - a plan first conceived in 2012 but repeatedly delayed. Despite missed deadlines and mounting criticism, the project remains on the table. Conservation groups and landowners warn that the proposed routes will slice through some of the country's most ecologically significant and economically valuable wilderness.

A fragile corridor at risk

This is no ordinary tract of...