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This report by the Centre for Environmental Rights, authored by Robert Scholes and Francois Engelbrecht of the Global Change Institute, details the human-caused climate impacts affecting southern Africa. It highlights the region's status as a climate 'hotspot' where warming is occurring at twice the global average rate, leading to severe risks for agriculture, water security, human health, and biodiversity. The document emphasizes that the severity of these impacts depends on global mitigation efforts, with warming above 2°C posing catastrophic risks to staple crops and livestock.

This report explores how insurance can be integrated into urban climate resilience strategies to mitigate financial and physical risks. It argues that while insurance is underutilized, cities can act as consumers of risk-transfer products, stewards of risk-reducing policy, and conveners of stakeholders. Key barriers include a lack of technical capacity, data gaps, and the short-term nature of insurance products. The report recommends increased investment in risk assessment, the development of collaborative resilience plans with the insurance industry, and the use of concessional finance from DFIs to make insurance affordable for vulnerable urban populations.

This technical report describes the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) methodology and its application to various infrastructure types to calculate the costs of environmental, social, governance, and climate risks, as well as externalities. It specifically explores how SAVi can be integrated into Indonesia's Vision 2045 (IV2045) system dynamics model to better inform low-carbon development and investment strategies by bridging top-down national planning with bottom-up asset-specific analysis.

This policy brief by the South African Institute of International Affairs examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on green finance and development, contrasting the robust recovery packages in the global North with the funding gaps and systemic challenges in the global South. It highlights the risk that urgent health-sector spending may undermine environmental sustainability and advocates for institutional reforms, increased South-South cooperation, and coordinated global efforts to bridge the climate finance gap.

This statement, submitted in April 2021 by the Public Health Association of South Africa (PHASA), the South African Medical Association, and Amref Health Africa, provides recommendations for South Africa's updated draft Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The authors argue that the draft's emission reduction targets are insufficient to protect public health and urge the government to align targets with a 2°C goal. The document emphasizes the critical link between climate action and health outcomes, proposing a 'One Health' approach and a policy roadmap focusing on energy, food and agriculture, and transportation to maximize health and equity co-benefits.

This report evaluates the building infrastructure of the Paterson Park Precinct in Johannesburg, South Africa, using the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) tool and Copernicus climate data. It compares business-as-usual (BAU) building designs with green, climate-resilient designs over a 40-year life cycle. The analysis finds that green buildings significantly reduce total net costs through lower energy and maintenance expenditures and reduced GHG emissions. While climate change generally increases energy costs and GHG externalities, the RCP 8.5 scenario specifically reduces irrigation costs due to higher predicted precipitation. Additionally, the report concludes that solar panel investments are highly profitable in the South African context, particularly when accounting for electricity price inflation.

This report presents a Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) assessment of three stormwater infrastructure options in the Paterson Park Precinct of Johannesburg, South Africa: a grey concrete culvert, a nature-based stream renaturalization, and a hybrid solution. Using data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the study compares these options through an integrated cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and climate change scenario analysis over 20- and 40-year horizons. The findings demonstrate that nature-based infrastructure is the most cost-efficient and climate-resilient choice, providing significant co-benefits in flood mitigation and water supply.

This policy brief examines the 'Safe City' initiative in Johannesburg, specifically the Integrated Intelligence Operations Centre (IIOC), arguing that the deployment of mass surveillance technology threatens civil liberties and fails to address the structural causes of crime such as poverty and inequality.

This document contains the Short Heads of Argument filed on 11 March 2021 by the First Respondent, Uthaka Energy (Pty) Ltd, in the High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria). Uthaka argues against an urgent application for an interim interdict brought by the Mining and Environmental Justice Community Network of South Africa and others, which seeks to stop the commencement of the Yzermyn Underground Coal-mining Project. Uthaka contends that it possesses all necessary statutory authorisations and that the application lacks urgency, a prima facie right, and a reasonable apprehension of irreparable harm.

Natural Justice (NJ), a non-profit organization, submitted comments on the draft Expropriation Bill, 2020, to the South African Department of Public Works. While welcoming the Bill's goal to replace the Expropriation Act of 1975 and allow for expropriation without compensation to redress historical land imbalances, NJ argues the draft is too state-centric, lacks climate change considerations, and fails to provide sufficient mechanisms for public oversight and the protection of vulnerable land rights holders.

This report examines the acceleration of e-governance and the use of social media by governments during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a specific focus on South Africa's digital innovations and the broader challenges facing the African continent.

A summary of the High Court judgment in Featherbrooke Homeowners Association NPC v Mogale City Local Municipality & Others, where the court found that state entities failed in their duty to manage stormwater, infringing on the constitutional right to a healthy and safe environment.

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute maps the green bond landscape in Africa as of January 2021. It identifies the market as nascent and underdeveloped, dominated by a few states and entities, and outlines the structural barriers and opportunities for scaling up green finance to meet climate mitigation and adaptation needs across the continent.

This filing notice and updated practice note, submitted by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) on December 8, 2020, outlines an appeal in the High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria). The appeal challenges a Water Tribunal decision that dismissed a previous appeal against the granting of a water use licence (WUL) to Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd by the Department of Water and Sanitation.

This research paper by Mbongiseni Buthelezi examines how the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent hard lockdown in March 2020 exposed and exacerbated existing social, economic, and political fault lines in South Africa. The author analyzes the state's response, the role of the military and police, the emergence of corruption in PPE and food relief procurement, and the evolving relationship between the government, business, and civil society.

This policy brief proposes the creation of a legislated National Strategy and Development Council (NSDC) within the South African presidency to centralize national strategy and ensure institutional continuity across different administrations. It specifically advocates for restructuring the International Relations Trade and Security (IRTS) cabinet cluster into a directorate and establishing an independent, non-governmental Council on International Relations and Cooperation (CIRC) to provide expert advice and research.

SAIIA announced the closure of its Cape Town and Wits campus offices and the cancellation of public events starting March 2020 to slow the spread of COVID-19, shifting operations to remote work while maintaining stakeholder engagement via digital platforms.

This research report by the Institute for Security Studies assesses South Africa's first year as an elected non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the 2019-2020 term. It examines the country's efforts to recalibrate its foreign policy under the Ramaphosa administration, its role in fostering African unity among council members, and its leadership during its October 2019 presidency.

A statement from the Centre for Environmental Rights, on behalf of the Life After Coal Campaign, urging the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Forestry and Fisheries to prioritise the Climate Change Bill and accelerate South Africa's transition away from fossil fuels to mitigate severe climate risks.

An open letter from a coalition of environmental activists to President Cyril Ramaphosa urging that the South Africa Investment Conference (5–7 November 2019) prioritize responsible investment over the exploitation of natural resources, specifically opposing the weakening of water use regulations to attract business.