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This report provides a comprehensive analysis of South Africa's development trajectory to 2043, comparing a 'Current Path' (business-as-usual) against eight sectoral scenarios and a 'Combined' scenario. It examines the impacts of demographics, health, education, manufacturing, trade (AfCFTA), infrastructure, financial flows, and governance on the country's GDP, poverty levels, and carbon emissions. The analysis highlights structural challenges such as extreme inequality, high unemployment, and a history of deindustrialisation, while offering policy recommendations to transition toward an export-led, green economy with improved human capital and governance.

This report provides a comprehensive overview of South Africa's geographic and socio-economic landscape. It details the country's transition from apartheid to a democratic state, the subsequent economic fluctuations, and the current challenges of deindustrialisation, corruption, and infrastructure decay. Key focus areas include the decline of the mining sector despite vast mineral reserves, the impact of the 2024 elections on political governance, and critical shortages in electricity and water.

The 2026 Market Intelligence Report by GreenCape outlines renewable energy (RE) investment opportunities in South Africa, identifying a potential market of R161.2 billion by 2030. The report focuses on large-scale RE projects and behind-the-meter (BTM) solutions, while detailing the transition from public procurement to a private offtake market and the structural unbundling of Eskom.

A WWF South Africa fact sheet providing key statistics and geographical context for the Cape Floral Kingdom, highlighting its biodiversity and climate.

This fact sheet by the Institute for Economic Justice examines fraud within South Africa's social grant system. It argues that while the government focuses on policing beneficiaries, the majority of high-value fraud is perpetrated by government officials and external predatory actors. The document critiques current anti-fraud measures—such as algorithms, bank account monitoring, and biometric verification—as ineffective tools that disproportionately exclude vulnerable, eligible recipients from receiving essential support.

This report details a workshop held from 20 to 22 October 2025, organized by the Institute for Economic Justice to build capacity among diverse food system constituencies to engage with South Africa's Climate Change Act (CCA). The workshop focused on the intersection of climate change and food systems, the need for a just transition that prioritizes agroecology and land reform, and the specific policy entry points provided by the CCA's mandated National and Sector Adaptation Plans.

This research paper analyzes the role of green skills development and social protection in Brazil and South Africa as they pursue carbon neutrality by 2050. It compares South Africa's Just Energy Transition Partnership (JET-P) and its struggle with coal dependency and structural unemployment against Brazil's established renewable energy sector and its challenges with labor market informality. The paper argues that a just transition requires coordinated national strategies, robust investment in vocational training, and the integration of social protection programs with environmental sustainability goals.

This case study describes the 'Climate Change Citizenship for a Just Transition in South Africa' (SA Climate Change Champions) project, which aimed to empower youth, women, and communities in the Eastern, Northern, and Western Cape to engage with the renewable energy sector and climate policy. Co-funded by the European Union and delivered by GreenCape, the project established climate clubs, facilitated policy dialogues, and provided capacity building to ensure inclusive participation in South Africa's energy transition.

This guide, published by Natural Justice in March 2025, provides small-scale fishing communities in South Africa with a framework for pursuing 'ocean justice'. It details the legal rights of these communities, the environmental and socio-economic impacts of industrial developments like oil and gas exploration, and practical steps for participating in environmental impact assessments and legislative processes to protect their livelihoods and the marine environment.

This policy brief argues that South Africa requires a fundamental transformation of its land administration system to secure tenure for unregistered (off-register) land rights. The author contends that existing empirical research on urban and rural tenure—including the 'family house' custom and household-level customary rights—provides the necessary evidence-based data to move away from opinion-based policymaking and create a system capable of recording and administering diverse forms of tenure.

This report, commissioned by UNDP South Africa and published by WWF South Africa, provides a roadmap for implementing Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to help South Africa meet the Global Biodiversity Framework's '30x30' target. It identifies potential marine OECM mechanisms, assesses their biodiversity value and area-based contributions, estimates recognition costs, and proposes a structured national framework for identification, assessment, and reporting.

This fact sheet by WWF South Africa describes the 'Ecochamps' initiative in Matatiele, Eastern Cape, as a model for using community champions to bridge the gap between rural residents, NGOs, government, and researchers. It highlights how upskilling local youth to facilitate the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus can improve natural resource management, citizen science, and social cohesion.

This fact sheet from WWF South Africa describes the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus project, focusing on the use of 'knowledge festivals' and 'community champions' to integrate local decision-making into national frameworks for natural resource management in rural South Africa.

The COP29 South African Youth Statement, presented by the Youth Policy Committee Global Change Working Group via Youth@SAIIA, outlines a comprehensive set of demands for the South African government delegation to COP29. The statement advocates for a climate justice approach that integrates human rights, gender equality, and social justice, calling for urgent reforms in water sanitation, waste management, and the energy transition to protect marginalized communities.

This fact sheet by the Institute for Economic Justice argues that food insecurity in South Africa is primarily a result of income poverty rather than food scarcity. It advocates for a Guaranteed Universal Basic Income (UBIG) to ensure all citizens can afford a nutritious diet, highlighting the severe health, social, and economic costs of malnutrition and the limitations of current targeted social grants.

This legal memorandum analyzes the potential for company directors in South Africa to be held personally liable for failing to address, disclose, and prepare for climate-related financial risks. It examines the intersection of the Companies Act 71 of 2008, common law, the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), and the recently enacted Climate Change Act 22 of 2024, arguing that climate risk is a material financial risk that falls under existing directors' duties of care, skill, and fiduciary loyalty.

This research paper by the South African Institute of International Affairs argues that African policymakers must integrate social protection policies into national climate responses to protect vulnerable populations. It examines both contributory mechanisms, such as weather-based index insurance via the African Risk Capacity, and non-contributory measures, such as Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program, while emphasizing the need for increased financing from global funds to address climate-induced loss and damage.

This report by the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) examines the role of South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) in the country's Just Energy Transition (JET). It argues that the DMRE has exhibited significant reluctance to lead the transition, driven by institutional 'stickiness', conflicts of interest between its minerals and energy mandates, and a perception of the JET as a Western imposition. The report highlights a lack of policy articulation, poor stakeholder engagement, and capacity constraints resulting from repeated organisational restructuring and the legacy of state capture. It concludes by welcoming the recent split of the DMRE into two separate departments—Mineral and Petroleum Resources, and Electricity and Energy—as a necessary step to resolve these conflicts and improve policy focus.

This policy brief argues that social protection policies are essential for building climate resilience in Africa, where climate change threatens to push 130 million people into poverty. It highlights the role of the African Risk Capacity (ARC) for sovereign insurance and Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) as key examples of climate-responsive tools. The author emphasizes the need for increased funding from multilateral sources like the Loss and Damage Fund and the Green Climate Fund to bridge the financing gap for climate-induced economic damages.

The 2024 GreenCape report identifies significant investment opportunities in South Africa's electric vehicle (EV) sector, particularly in the local manufacturing of private passenger vehicles (estimated at R620 billion annually) and the electrification of freight, public transport, and last-mile delivery. While rising fuel prices and global supply chain diversification (the 'China Plus One Strategy') drive adoption, the transition is hindered by high upfront CAPEX, limited charging infrastructure, and energy security concerns related to loadshedding. The South African government is supporting the transition through the Electric Vehicle White Paper and a 150% investment allowance for qualifying EV and hydrogen-powered vehicle spending starting in 2026.