Implementing just transitions

South Africa is transitioning from just transition planning to implementation, facing a misalignment between national ambitions and local priorities. Key obstacles include limited subnational institutional capacity, inadequate financing mechanisms for transformative projects, and a lack of transparent decision-making in resource allocation. The document emphasizes that failing to address these gaps and local developmental needs may undermine public support for the energy transition.

• There is a significant discrepancy between the just transition ambitions of national-level actors and those at the subnational level. National entities, the state-owned energy company Eskom, and foreign funders tend to favor lower ambition, while local union members, communities, and subnational authorities seek more transformative change.
• Local priorities in coal regions often extend beyond energy transition to include basic services, poverty, food security, climate adaptation, and public health. These have been deprioritized in later policy stages by powerful stakeholders focusing on emissions reductions and energy security.
• Subnational governments, particularly in the coal-dependent Mpumalanga Province, lack the institutional capacity, financial resources, and data access necessary to effectively execute just transition projects.
• Existing financing rules are unsuitable for transformative just transition projects, which are typically small, high-risk, and based on novel technologies. There is a need for blended finance, de-risking activities, and decision-making processes that prioritize social and environmental impacts over conventional financial metrics.
• The selection of beneficiaries and the allocation of resources for just transition projects lack transparency, which is a critical concern given the history of regulatory agency corruption in South Africa.
• In the green hydrogen sector, just transition elements are often treated as a "bolt-on" and deferred until after project feasibility is established. Developers view these social objectives as cost constraints that reduce the viability of projects already more expensive than grey hydrogen.

APA

Strambo, C., Patel, M., & Maimele, S. (2024). Implementing just transitions. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/just-transitions-south-africa-sei2024-047-1.pdf

Chicago

Strambo, Claudia, Muhammed Patel, and Seutame Maimele. Implementing just transitions. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2024. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/just-transitions-south-africa-sei2024-047-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Strambo |first1=Claudia |last2=Patel |first2=Muhammed |last3=Maimele |first3=Seutame |title=Implementing just transitions |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=November 2024 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/just-transitions-south-africa-sei2024-047-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{strambo2024implementing, author = {Strambo, Claudia and Patel, Muhammed and Maimele, Seutame}, title = {{Implementing just transitions}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/just-transitions-south-africa-sei2024-047-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }