PRESIDENTIAL CLIMATE COMMISSION
Towards A Just Transition
JUST TRANSITION FRAMEWORK
One of the first tasks of the Presidential Climate Commission is to develop a framework for a just transition. This framework will act as a practical guide for all affected stakeholders in South Africa, ensuring that the transition to a low-emissions economy is well-managed, just, and equitable, with particular focus on the poorest and most vulnerable. The framework will build on the existing just transition debates in the country, as well as the vision set out by the National Planning Commission.
The Presidential Climate Commission has contracted Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) to prepare a series of papers on different topics related to achieving a just transition in South Africa, providing an evidence-based foundation for the new framework.
Download the first paper here: Towards a Just Transition: A Review of Local and International Policy Debates
This paper reviews the key issues that will inform the development of the just transition framework, drawing on international and domestic experience.
Thematic and social-partner consultations, open to all, are also being conducted between August and November 2021 to gather a diverse range of views on what it means to achieve a just transition, and what it will take to get there—essential for building the consensus-driven framework.
Register below and stay tuned to the website and social media for opportunities to engage.
Dialogue on POLICY DYNAMICS: 14 September 9h00 – 12h00
Drawing on local and international experience, what is the suite of policy instruments that can be used to address procedural, distributive and restorative justice in the climate transition?
Dialogue on THE COAL VALUE CHAIN: 23 September 9h00 – 12h00
What will be the impact of the climate transition across the coal value chain (including power generation) and how can employment in the coal sector transition to new areas of growth?
Dialogue on EMPLOYMENT AND LIVELIHOODS: 5 October 9h00 – 12h00
What are the employment implications of the climate transition, and what measures can be implemented to build sustainable livelihoods and create quality jobs in the labour force of the future?
Dialogue on FINANCING A JUST TRANSITION: 15 October 9h00 – 12h00
How should the climate finance strategy enable a just transition, and what measures are needed to scale up funding of social interventions and economic diversification and ensure funds are targeted to a just transition?
Dialogue on WATER SECURITY: 26 October 9h00 – 12h00
What does a just transition mean for the water sector, and in particular how should equity, access, ecological and food security be reconciled with increasingly constrained water resources?
Dialogue on GOVERNANCE FOR A JUST TRANSITION: 5 November 9h00 – 12h00
What are the governance, coordination and monitoring mechanisms (national, provincial and local) that can promote a just transition, including institutional arrangements for priority hotspots such as the Mpumalanga coalfields?
LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A JUST TRANSITION FRAMEWORK FOR SOUTH AFRICA
JUST TRANSITION FRAMEWORK DIALOGUES SYNTHESIS REPORT
The Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) has today released a summary of the just transition dialogues and policy research conducted to date. As previously indicated, the PCC has been tasked with developing and producing a just transition framework for South Africa in 2022. The framework will be a strategic plan for achieving a just and equitable transition to net-zero CO2 emissions in South Africa by 2050, setting out the actions that social partners will take over the short, medium, and long term.
In 2021, the PCC commissioned several studies and undertook public consultations to help inform the development of the just transition framework. These studies and consultations helped unpack some of the issues at the centre of a just transition, setting the stage and context for the development of a framework that is practical, timely, and actionable, and meets the needs of all social partners.
The message from these consultations is that people need to be at the centre of the just transition, and that social and economic development are crucial considerations that must be addressed in the climate transition. In this regard, South Africa is not starting from nothing but building upon years of policymaking, engagement, learnings, and experiences.
The Presidential Climate Commission would like to thank all stakeholders and social partners who expressed views and contributed actively to the just transition thematic dialogues and debates and call upon them to remain active partners throughout this process.
