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The document argues that South Africa's National Treasury is incorrectly relying on austerity and claims of high statutory tax rates to justify limited public spending. It suggests that the government can increase revenue by implementing wealth taxes, recouping illicit financial flows, and reducing tax expenditures for high-income individuals and corporations. It specifically highlights the gap between statutory and effective tax rates for companies and the potential for the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) to lower borrowing costs.

The document is a formal letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa calling for systemic changes to global debt restructuring and sustainability. The authors argue that current G20 mechanisms, such as the Common Framework, are inadequate and that African nations face an 'African premium' in borrowing costs. They propose several specific interventions, including a UN Framework Convention on sovereign debt, the creation of an African Credit Rating Agency, and the sale of IMF gold reserves to fund debt relief.

Air pollution is the second deadliest risk for children under five globally, causing over 709,000 deaths in 2021. Children are more vulnerable due to developing immune systems and higher breathing rates. The burden is heavily skewed by economic disparity, with children in the least-developed countries facing death rates 94 times higher than those in the most-developed nations. The document highlights how structural lock-ins to fossil fuels and polluting land-use practices drive this crisis, noting that less than 1% of fossil fuel subsidies were spent on outdoor air quality between 2018 and 2022. Case studies in South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria, and Bangladesh illustrate the specific drivers—such as coal power, biomass burning, brick kilns, and oil extraction—that contribute to high child mortality and lifelong developmental impairments.

The briefing criticizes multilateral development banks (MDBs) for continuing to fund large-scale, centralized energy projects that the authors categorize as 'false solutions,' such as nuclear, carbon capture, and fossil gas. It argues these investments undermine equity and delay the transition to sustainable energy. Using case studies from Africa and Asia, the document recommends that MDBs prioritize decentralized renewable energy, reform climate finance frameworks, and ensure the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of Indigenous peoples.

The report analyzes governance and democracy across seven Southern African nations, highlighting a gap between policy frameworks and actual implementation. It emphasizes the critical role of civil society organizations (CSOs) as intermediaries and the necessity of freedom of expression for national stability, while noting that CSOs face increasing political and financial threats.

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the commercial agricultural sector in the Western Cape, South Africa, detailing its climatic conditions, production statistics, investment trends, and trade dynamics. It specifically examines the impact of extreme weather events, the shift toward digital agricultural investments, and the implications of new European Union sustainability directives on South African exports.

The United States faces significant supply chain vulnerabilities due to heavy reliance on imports for critical minerals, with China dominating the supply of 60% of U.S.-designated critical minerals. To mitigate this, the document proposes a shift toward a circular economy focusing on recycling and secondary recovery. Battery recycling, particularly for electric vehicles, could reduce the demand for mined lithium, nickel, and cobalt by approximately 10%, though currently fewer than 15% of U.S. lithium-ion batteries are recycled. Secondary recovery opportunities include extracting rare earth elements from acid mine drainage (AMD) and phosphogypsum waste from phosphate fertilizer production. Recent federal actions, including a March 2025 executive order and nearly $1 billion in Department of Energy funding, aim to prioritize domestic production, though the author argues for further long-term support for infrastructure and clearer circular economy standards.

A coalition of civil society organisations, including Reclaim Finance and Justiça Ambiental!, condemns the push by companies like TotalEnergies, ENI, and ExxonMobil to advance gas projects in Mozambique. They argue that restarting these projects, specifically the Mozambique LNG project, ignores unresolved community grievances and escalates security risks in Cabo Delgado. The organisations call on over 30 financial institutions, including Crédit Agricole and Standard Chartered, to withdraw support to avoid complicity in human rights abuses and environmental destruction.

The review identifies fundamental flaws in the site characterization, aquifer testing, and numerical modeling of the Cluster 2 Virginia Gas Production Project, concluding that the assessment does not provide a reliable basis for decision-making.

The report examines the role of securitisation in developing African capital markets, noting that while South Africa has a mature market, other sub-Saharan regions remain nascent. It identifies significant barriers, including fragmented legal and tax frameworks, a lack of a 'ratings culture', and limited understanding among financial institutions. Despite these challenges, the study finds a substantial supply of securitisable assets in banking, microfinance, and fintech sectors. It recommends a holistic regulatory approach, the use of anchor investors from DFIs and MDBs, and the adoption of scalable structures like warehouse facilities to mobilise private capital and bridge the private credit gap.

The document evaluates the South African government's response to the Zondo Commission's recommendations across seven themes: criminal justice, public procurement, public administration, corporate accountability, state-owned enterprises, parliamentary oversight, and whistleblowing. While noting some legislative progress, such as the Public Procurement Act of 2024 and the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Act of 2025, it highlights significant delays in reforming the appointment processes for the National Director of Public Prosecutions and the SARS Commissioner. The brief argues that reforms have been 'positive but halting' and often fail to address the deep structural issues of patronage and political interference that enabled state capture.

The document argues that Africa's critical raw materials (CRMs) have triggered a resurgence of transactional deals where external powers provide security or infrastructure in exchange for resource access. It contrasts Russia's use of private military companies, the US's transactional 'peace-brokering' model, and China's 'infrastructure-for-resources' strategy, noting that these arrangements often prioritize foreign strategic gains over African long-term stability and sovereignty.

A WRI briefing demonstrating that climate adaptation investments yield significant economic, social, and environmental returns, often exceeding the value of avoided climate losses.

The EU has introduced Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships (CTIPs) to diversify supply chains and foster clean energy cooperation, starting with South Africa. To be effective, CTIPs must move beyond existing frameworks by providing predictable demand, mobilising private finance through innovative instruments, and ensuring transparent, coordinated governance to avoid being perceived as mere compliance tools.

Natural Justice critiques South Africa's Draft Second NDC, noting that while it introduces tighter 2030 targets and a 2031–2035 carbon budget, it lacks enforceable commitments, funding for adaptation, and a coal phase-out schedule. The submission recommends unconditional emissions reductions, grant-based loss and damage finance, and the integration of human rights indicators and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) into climate planning.

The IEJ welcomes the conclusion of the G20 Task Force on Food Security, which focused on systemic drivers of hunger such as food price volatility, speculative market behavior, and climate shocks. The statement advocates for the implementation of buffer stocks, public food stock holdings, and agroecological approaches to build climate resilience and ensure food affordability. It highlights that 673 million people globally were impacted by hunger in 2024, with a significant rise in Africa. The IEJ, acting as a Resource Partner, emphasizes that the right to food must be central to global governance and that structural reforms should prioritize equity and the needs of smallholder farmers and low-income households.

The policy brief highlights the critical role of local governments in Africa and the Global South as implementers of climate adaptation, mitigation, and biodiversity goals. It identifies systemic barriers—including severe finance gaps, technical capacity constraints, and data deficiencies—that hinder municipal action. The authors recommend that South Africa's 2025 G20 presidency establish a multi-level climate governance declaration, a dedicated local climate action forum, and a specialized finance access facility to empower subnational governments as equal partners in global climate governance.

The policy brief argues that while crop insurance can enhance climate resilience and food security by protecting livelihoods and encouraging investment, adoption in Africa remains low due to design flaws and affordability. It reviews lessons from multi-peril and index-based insurance, highlighting the need to reduce basis risk through AI and digital innovations. The authors recommend that South Africa's G20 presidency promote high-quality, inclusive insurance products, integrate them into holistic risk management strategies alongside social protection, and develop 'smart subsidy' approaches tailored to different farmer profiles.

The Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy for South Africa (CMMSSA) aims to leverage the country's mineral wealth to drive industrialization and economic growth during the global energy transition. While the strategy introduces a science-based classification of critical minerals and a multi-pillar approach to value addition, it faces significant hurdles including institutional capacity constraints, regulatory uncertainty, and a lack of integration with social justice and 'just transition' principles. Furthermore, the document notes a tension between the CMMSSA's investor-friendly goals and the more restrictive racial transformation requirements found in draft amendments to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA).

The policy brief examines the role of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)—comprising digital identity, payments, and data-sharing systems—in addressing the shadow economy in Africa, which is estimated by the IMF to represent roughly 35% of GDP (approximately $1–1.2 trillion). It distinguishes between the general informal economy and the 'shadow economy,' focusing on high-value transactions deliberately structured to evade taxes. The document highlights that cash transactions enable this opacity, while digitalisation can increase visibility and audit trails. Drawing on lessons from South Korea's Tax Incentive for Electronically Traceable Payments (TIETP) and India's 'India Stack' and demonetisation, the brief suggests that incentivising consumers to use digital payments is more effective than solely targeting sellers. It notes that while Uganda has used DPI to register over 350,000 informal participants, revenue gains were limited by weak enforcement and data-sharing obstacles. The brief recommends that South Africa, during its 2025 G20 presidency, advocate for an 'Africa Stack' of open APIs and modular technology to spur private sector innovation and improve tax administration across the continent.