Search Climate Insights Directory

This case study examines Cape Town's response to a severe drought from 2015 to 2018, focusing on the collaborative partnerships established between public and private sectors to maintain economic resilience and avoid a jobs crisis.

This case study by GreenCape examines how the City of Cape Town and other South African municipalities have integrated small-scale embedded generation (SSEG), primarily rooftop solar PV, into their systems to build resilience against energy insecurity, load shedding, and rising electricity costs.

This case study examines the IkamvaYouth programme in Atlantis, South Africa, a non-profit initiative designed to build resilience among disadvantaged high school students through academic support, career guidance, and peer-to-peer networking. The programme aims to bridge the gap between education and employment, specifically preparing youth for opportunities within the Atlantis Special Economic Zone (ASEZ) greentech hub.

This case study describes how GreenCape, a not-for-profit organisation, provided support to water-intense industrial sectors in Cape Town during the severe drought of 2015-2018. The initiative aimed to help businesses reduce water consumption to maintain operations while adhering to a 45% water restriction.

This 2019 industry brief by GreenCape examines the challenges and options for managing brine—highly concentrated saline wastewater—produced when companies in Cape Town treat saline groundwater using technologies like reverse osmosis (RO). The document outlines direct discharge and treatment methods, noting that high costs and strict regulatory requirements often make these solutions financially unviable.

This case study by GreenCape examines three initiatives in Cape Town and South Africa designed to build a resilient solar PV industry through quality assurance and skills development: the establishment of SARETEC, the creation of a national Solar PV Service Technician qualification, and the implementation of the PV GreenCard.

This case study describes the Innovations for Water Resilience Competition 2018, a project delivered through a three-year partnership between GreenCape and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), with support from the City of Cape Town. The competition was designed to harness high-tech entrepreneurship to develop market-driven, decentralized smart-city responses to water scarcity and climate change challenges following a severe drought.

This case study examines the Atlantis Renewable Energy Challenge (AREC), an annual non-curriculum inter-school competition for junior and high school students in Atlantis, South Africa. Launched in 2016 by GreenCape in partnership with the City of Cape Town, the programme aims to build resilience among youth by exposing them to the green economy and renewable energy sector to prepare them for future employment opportunities, particularly those linked to the Atlantis Special Economic Zone (ASEZ).

This case study describes the Enterprise Development Programme (EDP), an initiative started by GreenCape in 2017 to foster green economic growth and economic resilience in Atlantis, South Africa. The programme focuses on waste diversion and entrepreneurship by identifying waste stream opportunities and providing business training and support to entrepreneurs and established businesses.

This case study examines the 2017 upgrade of the N2 highway near Borcherd’s Quarry in Cape Town, focusing on the reuse of 13,000 m3 of concrete and 5,000 m3 of asphalt millings as reclaimed aggregate for the road's base layers.

The South Africa’s Low-Emission Development Strategy (SA LEDS) 2050 is a strategic framework designed to transition South Africa to a low-carbon growth path by 2050. It aligns national policies with the Paris Agreement and the country's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), focusing on a 'peak, plateau and decline' emissions trajectory. The strategy outlines sectoral measures for energy, industry, agriculture, forestry, and waste, while emphasizing a 'Just Transition' to ensure socio-economic upliftment and job security during the shift away from fossil fuels.

This document is a Terms of Reference issued by GreenCape in December 2018 to appoint a service provider to develop and deliver a training program for qualified plumbers on the safe installation of alternative water systems in Cape Town.

This report examines the intersection of gender and migration in South Africa, arguing that current migration policies are largely gender-neutral or geared toward men, which increases the vulnerability of women migrants. Through focus groups and interviews with mixed migrant women in the Western Cape, the study highlights the 'triple discrimination' of xenophobia, racism, and misogyny faced by African women migrants, and calls for rights-based, gender-sensitive policy reforms.

The report 'Young Leaders' by WWF South Africa documents the first decade of its Environmental Leaders internship programme (2008–2018), which aims to bridge the gap between university graduation and professional employment in the green economy. The programme focuses on developing scarce green skills through work-based learning, dedicated mentoring, and professional networking to combat high graduate unemployment in South Africa.

This case study describes the deconstruction and material recovery process at the 15 ha Woolworths Distribution Centre site in Montague Gardens, Cape Town, where 90% of demolition waste was reused to avoid landfill costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

This report provides a management framework for South Africa's Strategic Water Source Areas (SWSAs), which produce over 50% of the region's mean annual runoff from 10% of the land. It details the economic importance of SWSAs, their role in supporting millions of people and the national economy, and provides specific implementation guidelines for the forestry, agriculture, and mining sectors to mitigate impacts on water quality and quantity. It advocates for the integration of SWSA maps into strategic spatial planning and the expansion of protected areas.

This briefing by the Climate Bonds Initiative explores the synergies between green bonds and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), arguing that climate mitigation and adaptation are essential for achieving the 2030 Agenda. It identifies six specific SDGs that benefit directly from green bond investment and emphasizes the need for climate risk disclosure across all thematic bond labels to ensure long-term sustainability.

A case study on Iselula Crushing in Blackheath, Cape Town, detailing the processing of builders' rubble into construction aggregates and the diversion of waste from landfills.

This briefing by the Climate Bonds Initiative explores the synergies between green bonds and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), arguing that climate mitigation and adaptation are essential for achieving the 2030 Agenda. It identifies six specific SDGs that benefit most directly from green bond investment and emphasizes the need for climate risk disclosure across all thematic bond labels to ensure long-term sustainability.

This report details a trade mission from the Netherlands to Cape Town, South Africa, held from May 22-25, 2018. Organized by GreenCape in cooperation with the Netherlands Government, the mission focused on the circular economy and biomass valorisation, specifically targeting organic wet streams, invasive species, construction and demolition waste, plastics, and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).