Taking stock of the just transition from coal in South Africa

Overview

This SEI working paper assesses South Africa's just transition from coal, a central theme in national development debates. While widely embraced for supporting livelihoods, the "just transition" concept is used to promote diverse economic and political interests, ranging from transformative change to maintaining the status quo. As South Africa implements policies, balancing top-down and bottom-up approaches, identifying impacts, and making investment choices are key challenges. Upholding transparent decision-making and procedural justice is crucial for broad support, especially to counter narrow interpretations that threaten societal backing.

Recommendations

The just transition in South Africa is a central but contested concept, used to advance varying economic and political interests, from transformative change to maintaining the status quo. Implementing policies requires balancing top-down and bottom-up change, identifying impacts, and making strategic investments. Upholding procedural justice and transparent decision-making, particularly concerning resource allocation and project design, is essential for broad-based local support. There's a risk that a narrow, socially conservative interpretation might dominate efforts, potentially misaligning with local priorities and jeopardizing societal backing.

Publisher: Stockholm Environment Institute.

Date: August 2024

Download here or follow this link: https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/just-transition-coal-south-africa.pdf