Strategy 2024-2028

Natural Justice's 2024-2028 strategy focuses on the legal empowerment of African communities to defend their rights against harmful extractive projects and climate impacts. The organisation employs a 'Litigation Plus' approach, combining strategic legal action with community-led research and policy influencing. Key priorities include securing land tenure, protecting traditional knowledge via the Nagoya Protocol, and promoting a just energy transition. The strategy is implemented through three main programmes: Standing with Communities, Defending Rights against Environmental and Social Impacts, and Affirming and Securing Rights to Lands, Resources and Knowledge.

• Natural Justice identifies a significant threat from the fossil fuel industry in Africa, noting that over 471 oil and gas projects are planned to start operations between 2024 and 2028, which may lead to mass displacement and ecosystem destruction.
• The organisation utilizes a 'Litigation Plus' approach, which integrates strategic litigation with legal empowerment to help communities understand, use, and shape the law to defend their rights.
• Natural Justice has successfully used the courts to stop harmful projects, including a 1050 MW coal power plant in Kenya due to a lack of climate change impact assessment and public participation, and Shell's seismic surveys on South Africa's East Coast.
• The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing is highlighted as a critical tool for ensuring fair sharing of benefits from genetic resources, exemplified by a 2019 agreement between the Khoikhoi and San and the South African rooibos industry.
• The strategy emphasizes the role of Community Environmental Legal Officers (CELOs)—a network of community-based paralegals—in providing ongoing legal support and gathering evidence for negotiations and litigation.
• The Just Energy Transition for Africa (JETA) initiative aims to ensure the shift to clean energy is equitable by empowering citizens to participate in energy decision-making and stop new fossil fuel projects.

APA

Natural Justice (2024). Strategy 2024-2028. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NJ_strategy_English-digital-2.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. Strategy 2024-2028. 2024. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NJ_strategy_English-digital-2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=Strategy 2024-2028 |date=2024 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NJ_strategy_English-digital-2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljustice2024strategy, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{Strategy 2024-2028}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2024}, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NJ_strategy_English-digital-2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }