CLIMATE ACTION HANDBOOK

The Climate Action Handbook is a guide published by Natural Justice in December 2021 designed to help communities in South Africa build climate resilience through legal empowerment. It provides educational material on the causes and impacts of climate change, outlines the legal framework of South Africa, and offers a ten-step practical toolkit for communities to advocate for their rights and hold governments and corporations accountable.

• Climate change is defined as a significant long-term change to normal weather patterns caused by human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide and methane, which exceed the environment's natural capacity to cope.
• Global greenhouse gas emissions are primarily driven by energy production, which accounts for 72% of all emissions, with electricity and heat specifically contributing 31%. Other significant sectors include transportation (15%), manufacturing (12%), agriculture (11%), and forestry (6%).
• Climate resilience is the ability of a community and its natural environment to avoid, absorb, respond to, and adapt to climate change impacts. This is achieved through physical adjustments and 'legal empowerment', which involves knowing and using the law to influence government decisions.
• South Africa is predicted to warm twice as fast as the global average, making it more vulnerable to extreme weather events. Despite international commitments like the Paris Agreement, the country remains heavily reliant on coal-fired power stations and is among the world's leading greenhouse gas emitters.
• The South African Constitution provides several rights that can be used to take climate action, including Section 24 (the right to an environment not harmful to health and well-being), Section 11 (right to life), Section 10 (right to dignity), and Section 27 (right to health care, food, water and social security).
• South Africa has a comprehensive set of environmental laws, including the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) as umbrella legislation, the Air Quality Act (NEM:AQA) for emission limits, and the Water Act for protecting water resources. A pending Climate Change Bill aims to introduce national greenhouse gas emission trajectories and sectoral targets.
• The handbook outlines a ten-step process for community climate action: strengthening the community, advocating, gathering information, accessing information (via PAIA), participating in decision-making (such as EIAs), lobbying governments, protesting, petitioning, reporting wrongdoings to 'Green Scorpions', and taking legal action as a last resort.
• Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are critical processes where the public has the right to be informed of proposed projects, access documents, provide comments, and appeal decisions. These assessments cover impacts on water, biodiversity, the ocean, heritage, agriculture, air quality, soil, and local economies.
• Traditional and indigenous knowledge is identified as a vital tool for climate adaptation, as it provides sustainable practices developed over generations. Examples include the Khwe community in Namibia using traditional fire management to protect biodiversity and support plant growth.

APA

Natural Justice (2021). CLIMATE ACTION HANDBOOK. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/NJ_Climate-Change-Handbook_DRAFT-3.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. CLIMATE ACTION HANDBOOK. 2021. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/NJ_Climate-Change-Handbook_DRAFT-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=CLIMATE ACTION HANDBOOK |date=December 2021 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/NJ_Climate-Change-Handbook_DRAFT-3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljustice2021climate, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{CLIMATE ACTION HANDBOOK}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/NJ_Climate-Change-Handbook_DRAFT-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }