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The brief argues that Southern Africa can leverage geopolitical instability in the Middle East by establishing a 'Cape Corridor Assurance Framework'. This framework would integrate regional maritime coordination and national Vessel Traffic Services to provide risk bulletins and performance KPIs for insurers. Key recommendations include a 'Clean-Corridor Compliance Code' to deter shadow-fleet activity, protecting subsea cable infrastructure, and enhancing green-fuel bunkering at specific ports to ensure the route is visible, managed, and insurable.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) submitted comments on the South African National Petroleum Company Bill, B2 - 2026, arguing that the draft legislation prioritizes petroleum expansion and commercialization over environmental governance, climate commitments, and constitutional rights. While acknowledging the potential for improved coordination by consolidating PetroSA, iGas, and the Strategic Fuel Fund, the CER recommends rejecting the Bill in its current form until significant amendments are made to align it with South Africa's climate obligations and environmental laws.

The study finds a significant disconnect between the design and implementation of water, energy, and food policies in four Sub-Saharan African countries. While policies appear aligned on paper, particularly regarding water management, fragmented energy market instruments and sustainable agriculture policies create regulatory uncertainty that hinders investment and resource management.

The paper identifies parametric insurance as a critical tool for strengthening the financial resilience of cities in EMDEs, where less than 10% of climate-related losses are currently insured. It highlights a structural collaboration gap between municipalities and insurers, noting that only 5 of 16 mapped programs engage directly with municipal governments. To address this, the authors propose three priority actions: supporting affordable premiums through national and international funding, strengthening municipal capacity for risk-layering, and improving legal and regulatory enabling environments. The document argues that parametric insurance is a particularly effective entry point due to its ability to provide rapid liquidity and simpler product structures compared to traditional indemnity insurance.

The report examines the financial and operational crisis facing South African municipal electricity distribution, characterized by rising bulk costs from Eskom and a massive infrastructure maintenance backlog. It proposes that municipalities leverage the growing amount of behind-the-meter rooftop solar PV—estimated at 3,495 MWp as of December 2024—to reduce reliance on expensive bulk purchases. By purchasing curtailed excess power and deploying leased BESS for peak demand arbitrage, municipalities could significantly increase operating surpluses to fund infrastructure renewal. The report specifically analyzes the City of Johannesburg, arguing that rooftop solar is not the primary cause of its revenue decline—which is instead driven by high technical and non-technical losses—and warns that punitive policies toward solar owners may accelerate grid defection.

The Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) condemns violence, hate speech, and vigilante attacks against foreign nationals, refugees, and asylum seekers in South Africa. While acknowledging the anger of economically marginalised citizens, PARI asserts that these grievances are being weaponised by opportunistic forces to distract from the state's failure to provide essential services, jobs, and security. The organization calls for state leaders to unequivocally condemn anti-migrant rhetoric and for the implementation of a democracy that delivers a better life for all residents regardless of nationality.

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) denounces the surge of anti-migrant rhetoric and violence in South Africa, attributing the social unrest to systemic economic crises rather than migration. The document highlights the role of vigilante groups and political actors in scapegoating migrants to deflect from government failures, including high unemployment and failing public services. It calls for a shift toward regional integration, the regularisation of undocumented migrants, and a pro-employment economic strategy to address the root causes of community despair.

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) and #PayTheGrants are challenging the South African government's appeal against a High Court ruling that found the SRD grant system unconstitutionally exclusionary. The High Court previously ruled that the online-only application and bank verification processes were illegal and that the government must increase the grant's value and means-test threshold. The IEJ argues that the current grant of R370 and a frozen means-test of R624 are insufficient given that the food poverty line is R855 per month. The document highlights a worsening socio-economic crisis, including 43.7% unemployment in Q1 2026 and rising inflation, warning that the government's failure to provide adequate social assistance could lead to social unrest.

A submission by a coalition of civil society organisations—including Law for Energy Transitions Africa, Natural Justice, The Green Connection, and Project 90 by 2030—providing detailed comments on the draft South African Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM) Code and Rules. The submission argues that the draft framework lacks sufficient alignment with constitutional rights and climate obligations, suffers from governance conflicts of interest due to the Market Operator's link to Eskom, and lacks transparency regarding costs and contracts.

The author contends that current unilateral green industrial strategies and carbon border adjustments create an inequitable trade environment that disadvantages developing countries. To resolve this, the paper proposes 'transition compacts': plurilateral, sector-specific agreements that link market access to verified emissions performance while making equity provisions, such as technology transfer and investment, legally binding rather than aspirational. Using examples like the failed Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminium (GASSA) and the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS), the text suggests that these compacts should be designed to be resilient to the withdrawal of major powers and focused on cooperative management of the energy transition.

Africa possesses immense untapped ocean-based renewable energy potential, particularly in offshore wind, which could provide over USD 1 trillion in economic benefits and millions of jobs. While current deployment is minimal, tapping just 5% of the continent's 6,750 GW offshore wind potential could more than double its current power generation capacity and meet all new electricity demand through 2040. Realising this potential requires significant investment in infrastructure and policy frameworks, as Africa currently receives less than 2% of global renewable energy investment.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, acting for the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA), submitted formal objections to ArcelorMittal South Africa's (AMSA) application for an alternative SO2 emission limit at its Vanderbijlpark Works. The objections argue that granting a limit of 1,500 mg/Nm³—three times the legal standard of 500 mg/Nm³—would violate constitutional rights to a healthy environment, ignore the conversion of SO2 into dangerous particulate matter (PM), and prioritize corporate cost-savings over public health in a known pollution hotspot.

The report examines South Africa's development prospects to 2043, contrasting a 'Current Path' of modest growth and persistent poverty with a 'Combined scenario' where strategic interventions in manufacturing, trade, infrastructure, and governance lead to a 33% increase in GDP per capita. It highlights critical structural constraints, including a high disease burden, poor education quality, and energy insecurity, while proposing a transition toward an export-led, green economy.

The report projects Namibia's economic and social future to 2043. While GDP per capita is expected to rise on the Current Path, the country faces persistent extreme poverty and food insecurity. Sectoral scenarios suggest that manufacturing, free trade, and agriculture offer the highest potential for economic growth, while a combined 'Agenda 2063' approach could significantly lift millions out of poverty, albeit at the cost of increased carbon emissions.

The report outlines South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy, its current economic challenges including deindustrialisation and low savings rates, and the state of its mining sector and infrastructure. It details the country's political fragmentation following the 2024 elections and the formation of a Government of National Unity.

The document introduces Zimbabwe as a landlocked, lower-middle-income country in Southern Africa. It details the nation's administrative structure, its membership in regional bodies like SADC and the AU, and its ethnic makeup, which is predominantly Shona (81%) and Ndebele (12%). The text describes Zimbabwe's diverse topography and rich natural resources, including lithium and platinum, while noting that the country has struggled with governance and economic instability since its independence from Britain in 1980.

The document outlines a hypothetical 'Governance scenario' for Africa, defined by reductions in state failure and corruption, and improvements in democracy and gender empowerment. It argues that such improvements would lead to a significantly larger African economy by 2043, with substantial gains in GDP per capita and a reduction of 45.5 million people living in extreme poverty. The analysis highlights the role of digital technology in implementing efficient cash grant programs as a tool for inclusion, citing Egypt's Takaful and Karama program as an example.

The Center for International Environmental Law asserts that ocean protection is impossible without confronting the expansion of offshore oil and gas, which it identifies as the primary driver of the climate crisis. The organization calls on governments at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Kenya to halt new offshore licensing, end public subsidies for expansion, and reject speculative marine geoengineering technologies that risk irreversible ecosystem damage. It further argues that states have binding legal duties under international law to prevent climate harm and protect the marine environment, which necessitates a coordinated phaseout of fossil fuel demand and supply.

The document presents a working framework for an intersectional approach to climate risk assessments (CRAs), developed through a co-production workshop in May 2025. This approach aims to move beyond oversimplified views of vulnerability by analyzing how intersecting systems of inequity create structural barriers. The framework is currently being tested via participatory case study research in Nepal and South Africa.

The report identifies several disruptive factors that could alter global trajectories, including the potential implosion of major powers like the US or China, the risks of generative AI, and the accelerating biosphere crisis. It highlights Africa's extreme vulnerability to climate change and warns that AI may exacerbate economic inequality and state surveillance. The text also notes a growing divide between the West and the Global South, driven by perceived self-centeredness during the COVID-19 pandemic and differing geopolitical responses to conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.