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The Climate Action Handbook is a guide designed to empower South African communities to respond to climate change by combining scientific understanding with legal action. It defines climate vulnerability and resilience, outlines South Africa's specific climate risks and legal framework—including constitutional rights and environmental legislation—and provides a ten-step practical framework for community-led climate action, ranging from advocacy and information gathering to formal legal proceedings.

The document examines the G20/OECD Inclusive Framework's Two-Pillar Solution to tax challenges from the digitalisation of the economy. It highlights that developing countries, particularly in Africa, suffer disproportionate revenue losses from tax avoidance—up to 5%–8% of GDP in some cases—compared to developed nations. The author argues that the current framework lacks adequate representation of African nations (only 23 of 55 AU members participated) and contains provisions, such as a 15% minimum corporate tax rate and high turnover thresholds for profit reallocation, that may marginalise poorer economies. The brief recommends shifting negotiations to a neutral body like the UN and increasing technical and financial support for developing countries to implement new standards.

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) argues that South Africa's 2021 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) prioritizes austerity and a budget surplus over necessary socioeconomic investment. The IEJ highlights significant real-term spending cuts in health, basic education, and social protection, asserting that such a contractionary stance stifles economic recovery and increases unemployment. The document advocates for a shift toward fiscal expansion, a comprehensive stimulus package, and the implementation of a wealth tax to fund a transformative economic agenda.

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) criticizes the 2021 MTBPS for implementing real-term spending cuts across health, education, and social protection while prioritizing a primary budget surplus over economic stimulus. The IEJ contends that the government is ignoring available fiscal space and recommends a shift toward a comprehensive stimulus package, the implementation of a wealth tax, and the adoption of a Universal Basic Income Grant to foster an equitable recovery.

The IEJ criticizes the South African National Treasury's 'fiscal consolidation' approach, arguing that budget cuts during a recession are procyclical and retard economic recovery. The document asserts that there is significant fiscal space due to tax overruns and IMF funding, which should be used for a Universal Basic Income Grant (UBIG) and job creation initiatives. It warns that prioritizing debt reduction over public expenditure has led to real declines in spending for education and social grants, which undermines human capital and socio-economic rights.

The document examines how Sub-Saharan Africa can utilize the energy transition to foster industrialization. It proposes strategies including the creation of green industrial policies, the development of domestic manufacturing capabilities for clean technologies through research and skills transfer, and the strategic use of natural gas and critical minerals to bridge energy access gaps and move up the global value chain.

The analysis finds that emissions trends in 30 major economies are far from Paris Agreement goals, with group emissions projected to increase by approximately 0.4% per year between 2021 and 2030. While nearly two-thirds of the analyzed countries are expected to accelerate mitigation efforts in the 2020s, current policies remain insufficient, as global emissions would need to fall by 7.6% annually until 2030 to meet climate targets.

A keynote speech delivered by Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) at the Youth Connekt Africa Summit, advocating for increased regional labor mobility to address youth unemployment and skills gaps in Africa.

The report examines the role of indigenous knowledge in bridging climate data gaps in Africa, highlighting how traditional observation methods and community-based forecasting can enhance the accuracy of early warning systems when integrated with scientific meteorology. It identifies the decline of this knowledge due to modernization and the preference for top-down scientific models, while providing examples of successful 'co-production' of climate information in countries like Kenya.

The document examines the gaps in South Africa's violence-prevention M&E framework, noting that government monitoring focuses on financial compliance and service access rather than long-term outcomes. It highlights the reporting burden on NGOs, the lack of a unified national results framework, and the disconnect between administrative data and the lived experiences of communities.

The report identifies a critical gap between South Africa's progressive water and sanitation policies and the actual delivery of services, which is hindered by systemic weaknesses, financial instability, and a lack of infrastructure maintenance. It argues that current efforts to improve outcomes focus too heavily on technical skills training while ignoring structural flaws in the local government fiscal framework and the erosion of Free Basic Services (FBS). The document recommends that the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) utilize Section 63 of the Water Services Act to enforce delivery standards, reform the infrastructure maintenance funding model, and adopt a co-production model for community participation.

The paper examines the potential of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies to transform South Africa's commercial landscape by reducing dependence on physical currency. It highlights the risks of cash-in-transit (CIT) heists and ATM attacks, noting that 243 CIT heists occurred in 2019. While acknowledging challenges such as the third-highest global rate of cybercrime and a large informal economy, the authors argue that digital payment systems—similar to those adopted in China, Kenya, and the UK—could improve security and economic inclusivity. The document identifies barriers to e-commerce growth in South Africa, including high banking charges, lack of funding for SMMEs, strict labour laws, and expensive internet data.

The document outlines the financial gap for climate action in Africa, noting that NDCs will require approximately $3 trillion by 2030. It identifies significant barriers to private investment, including political, project, and economic risks, as well as a lack of 'bankable' projects. To address these, the brief recommends the development of NDC implementation plans, the use of credit enhancement mechanisms via blended finance, and the provision of technical grant-based funding to help borrowers reach the bankability stage. It specifically emphasizes the need for catalytic public finance to unlock private investment in adaptation and nature-based solutions.

The document examines the industrial and trade policy challenges Africa faces during the transition to a lower carbon economy. It emphasizes that for the transition to be 'just,' Africa must move beyond exporting primary products and importing green technology to becoming a manufacturer of value-added lower-carbon products. The author highlights the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a key mechanism for creating regional value chains for renewable energy components. The paper warns against premature trade liberalization and unilateral carbon-based import restrictions from developed nations, which it characterizes as 'green-washed protectionism.' It concludes that Africa should advocate for a Global Green New Deal that explicitly recognizes the right of developing countries to industrialize and receive real resource transfers for climate adaptation and mitigation.

The Life After Coal campaign calls for South Africa to adhere to the lower bound of its updated NDC (350 to 420 Mt CO2eq) to align with the 1.5°C pathway. This requires cancelling all new coal and gas projects, accelerating the retirement of the coal fleet to reach zero fossil fuels in electricity by 2040, and building at least 4 GW of renewable capacity annually. The campaign also advocates for a just transition that prioritizes workers and communities and urges South Africa to lead at COP26 in demanding increased finance for adaptation and loss and damage from wealthy nations.

This briefing memorandum, written by Danjelle Midgley of the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), outlines the legislative process, key role-players, and estimated timeframes for the National Climate Change Bill following its introduction to the South African Parliament on 11 October 2021.

The global pipeline of proposed coal power plants has decreased by 76% since 2015. As of July 2021, 44 economies have formally committed to no new coal, while another 40 are positioned to do so because they have no projects in their pre-construction pipeline. However, 37 economies still consider new coal, with China, India, Viet Nam, Indonesia, Turkey, and Bangladesh accounting for 82% of the remaining global pipeline. The report provides detailed profiles of these economies, highlighting the role of Chinese financing and the impact of local opposition and environmental concerns in halting projects.

The document compares universal and targeted Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) models in South Africa, concluding that a universal approach for adults aged 18–59 is superior. It argues that targeted programmes suffer from exclusion errors, administrative complexity, and poverty traps. The paper proposes that a Universal Basic Income Guarantee (UBIG) can be funded via progressive taxation and social security contributions, serving as an investment to stimulate local economies and strengthen social cohesion. It recommends a rapid universal rollout over phased or targeted implementation to avoid arbitrary eligibility rules and administrative burdens.

The document argues that the draft regulations fail to sufficiently protect the state and affected communities from the costs of mine abandonment. It calls for a shift from 'agreed' to 'approved' closure objectives, the inclusion of 'sustainable end use' to address socio-economic inequality and land reform, and the removal of high-risk financial vehicles like parent company guarantees. It specifically highlights regulatory gaps in tailings reprocessing and the environmental risks of seismic surveys in the oil and gas sector.

The fact sheet identifies six corporate entities—BP, Microsoft, IETA, BlackRock, Shell, and Drax—that the author claims are using "net zero" agendas to mask continued fossil fuel investment, rely on unproven technology, and influence policymakers through extensive lobbying and partnerships surrounding COP26.