The just transition: A once-in-a-generation chance for real transformation that will save our country and our planet

The Centre for Environmental Rights asserts that South Africa's transition from coal must go beyond energy shifts to encompass a radical restructuring of society. The author warns that southern Africa is warming at twice the global rate, making incremental change impossible. The document advocates for an "Open Agenda for a Just Transition" that integrates clean energy with food sovereignty, gender justice, and a new economic system based on human needs rather than profit.

• South Africa faces severe climate risks at a 1.5°C global temperature increase, including increased frequency of droughts, flash flooding, heatwaves, and infrastructure failure. Because southern Africa is warming at twice the global rate, a 3°C trajectory would be "catastrophic".
• The transition away from fossil fuels is already underway due to global capital shifts and plummeting local costs for renewable energy, rendering new fossil fuel investments "indefensible" in the current fiscal environment.
• The author criticizes the narrow interpretation of a "just transition" as merely protecting worker livelihoods, arguing this view is used as an "excuse to slow down the pace of the transition" and ignores existing job losses in the coal sector and toxic air pollution in the Mpumalanga Highveld.
• The "Open Agenda for a Just Transition," released by the Life After Coal campaign, calls for a systemic shift toward a society based on social justice and clean energy. Key demands include ending financing for coal and gas, rehabilitating land and water ruined by mining, ensuring food sovereignty, and implementing universal basic income support.

APA

Nozuko (2021). The just transition: A once-in-a-generation chance for real transformation that will save our country and our planet. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/news/the-just-transition-a-once-in-a-generation-chance-for-real-transformation-that-will-save-our-country-and-our-planet-2

Chicago

Nozuko. The just transition: A once-in-a-generation chance for real transformation that will save our country and our planet. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2021. https://cer.org.za/news/the-just-transition-a-once-in-a-generation-chance-for-real-transformation-that-will-save-our-country-and-our-planet-2.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Nozuko |title=The just transition: A once-in-a-generation chance for real transformation that will save our country and our planet |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=30 July 2021 |url=https://cer.org.za/news/the-just-transition-a-once-in-a-generation-chance-for-real-transformation-that-will-save-our-country-and-our-planet-2 |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{nozuko2021just, author = {Nozuko}, title = {{The just transition: A once-in-a-generation chance for real transformation that will save our country and our planet}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2021}, month = jul, url = {https://cer.org.za/news/the-just-transition-a-once-in-a-generation-chance-for-real-transformation-that-will-save-our-country-and-our-planet-2}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }