Submission: South Africa’s Draft Second Nationally Determined Contribution

Natural Justice has submitted a critique of South Africa's Draft Second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), arguing that despite updated targets, the document lacks enforceable commitments, funding for adaptation, and a clear fossil fuel phase-out schedule. The organization calls for unconditional emissions reductions, grant-based Loss and Damage finance, and the integration of human rights and gender-responsive planning into climate strategy.

• Natural Justice identifies several gaps in South Africa's Draft Second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), noting that while it includes tighter 2030 targets and a new carbon budget for 2031–2035, it lacks enforceable commitments, community-centered implementation, and adequate financing.
• The critique highlights specific deficiencies across four areas: mitigation gaps including the lack of a coal and fossil fuel phase-out schedule; adaptation shortcomings where major goals are unfunded ("TBD") and lack Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC); loss and damage deficiencies regarding the absence of grant-based finance and domestic implementation roadmaps; and institutional gaps concerning the exclusion of natural disturbance emissions from MRV and a lack of legal accountability.
• Natural Justice recommends that the NDC be revised to include unconditional domestic emissions reduction commitments, clear timelines for the phase-out of fossil fuels, rights-based adaptation planning with gender-responsive budgeting, a domestic Loss and Damage facility using grant-based finance, and the integration of human rights indicators into climate reporting.

APA

Natural Justice (2025). Submission: South Africa’s Draft Second Nationally Determined Contribution. https://naturaljustice.org/publication/submission-south-africas-draft-second-nationally-determined-contribution/

Chicago

Natural Justice. Submission: South Africa’s Draft Second Nationally Determined Contribution. 2025. https://naturaljustice.org/publication/submission-south-africas-draft-second-nationally-determined-contribution/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Natural Justice |title=Submission: South Africa’s Draft Second Nationally Determined Contribution |date=22 September 2025 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/publication/submission-south-africas-draft-second-nationally-determined-contribution/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{naturaljustice2025submission, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{Submission: South Africa’s Draft Second Nationally Determined Contribution}}, publisher = {Natural Justice}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/publication/submission-south-africas-draft-second-nationally-determined-contribution/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }