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The document argues that while South Africa was successful in peacemaking and peacekeeping in Burundi, it failed to maintain a substantive post-conflict presence after 2009, resulting in missed opportunities for development and peacebuilding. It recommends that South Africa develop a long-term, coordinated strategy for post-conflict engagement, leveraging its access to government authorities and building national skills in peacebuilding to avoid the ad hoc approach seen in Burundi.

The document examines Africa's shift toward diverse global partnerships to foster development, peace, and security. It analyzes the structural goals of the African Economic Community (AEC) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) while critiquing the impact of globalization and 'economic imperialism'. The author details specific frameworks such as the Africa-India Forum, the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and the Africa-South America Summit, noting a 'new scramble for Africa' driven by the demand for natural resources. The paper argues that while these partnerships offer opportunities, African nations must reclaim responsibility for their own development paths to avoid repeating colonial patterns of exploitation.

The workshop, held in September 2025, focused on linking local leadership with global climate frameworks. Through case studies from India, South Africa, and Ethiopia, participants identified the necessity of community ownership, political will at the national level, and the use of the COP30 Action Agenda to scale locally-led solutions. The event concluded that a global Just Transition must be grounded in local realities and supported by international mechanisms for finance and knowledge sharing.

The document analyzes the current state of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) in Africa, identifying systemic barriers such as fragmented policies, significant funding gaps, and the exclusion of smallholder farmers. It highlights opportunities in digital technology, indigenous knowledge, and private sector engagement. To address these, it recommends that the South African G20 Presidency champion blended finance mechanisms, strengthen regional collaboration through Regional Economic Communities (RECs), integrate traditional knowledge into policy, improve monitoring and evaluation systems, and accelerate the adoption of agri-tech.

The REIPPPP has successfully added 6,308.68 MW of renewable electricity to South Africa's grid and supported local industry, but it has been hindered by policy uncertainty, grid capacity bottlenecks, and a six-year gap between Bid Windows 4 and 5. The document argues that for the programme to reach the Integrated Resource Plan 2019 goals for solar PV and wind by 2030, South Africa must unbundle Eskom, establish an Independent Systems Market Operator (ISMO), and optimise transmission infrastructure. It recommends streamlining bid windows, enhancing regulatory transparency, and leveraging the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM) to promote strategic localisation and job creation.

The document examines how COVID-19 transitioned from a health crisis to a systemic human development crisis in Africa, highlighting the severe economic contraction faced by energy exporters and tourism-dependent nations. It notes that while developed economies initially bore a higher infection burden, the economic downturn is universal, potentially triggering debt crises and defaults. However, the report suggests the pandemic could accelerate digitisation and a transition toward a sustainable economy powered by renewable energy.

The report details a transition in South Africa's energy efficiency landscape, marked by the introduction of new building codes (SANS 10400) and mandatory quality testing for solar water heaters. While the high-pressure solar water heater market is consolidating after a peak in 2011 and the low-pressure sector is described as 'virtually extinct', the embedded generation sector, particularly solar PV, is showing growth as it approaches price parity with Eskom retail pricing. Financial incentives are shifting from Eskom-funded rebates, which have been largely cancelled, toward tax deductions under Section 12L.

The document examines the restructuring of South Africa's electricity sector, focusing on the transition from an Eskom-dominated monopoly to a more competitive market. It analyzes the urgent need for reform in the electricity distribution industry (EDI) due to financial crises and inefficiencies, and the proposed shift toward regional electricity distributors (REDs). In the electricity supply industry (ESI), it explores models for introducing wholesale competition and the corporatization of Eskom. A central theme is the 'public benefits imperative,' assessing how goals like rural electrification, black economic empowerment, and energy efficiency are being balanced against economic efficiency and privatization. The study notes that while some social goals are high on the agenda, environmental benefits and demand-side management have seen less traction, often sidelined by immediate financial survival or used as strategic tools to delay reform.

The document details the essential role of critical minerals in clean energy technologies, the U.S.'s high import reliance, and the regulatory and economic barriers to domestic production. It highlights the environmental and human rights risks of mining, the potential for secondary recovery and recycling, and recent federal legislative and executive actions aimed at securing supply chains.

The report evaluates how South Africa's sophisticated insurance industry can be leveraged to bridge a R2.3bn annual disaster funding gap and improve climate resilience. While the country has high insurance penetration (10%), non-life coverage remains low among vulnerable groups due to affordability and regulatory costs. The document highlights opportunities in index-based agricultural insurance, municipal risk pooling, and the integration of insurance into social grant systems via SASSA. It also identifies significant transition risks for insurers due to the economy's reliance on carbon-intensive assets and recommends streamlining Public-Private Partnership (PPP) regulations to incentivise private sector investment in adaptation.

The report analyzes how South Africa's export-led growth strategy interacts with global environmental standards and regulations. It focuses on three sectors: coal, where the Kyoto Protocol threatens global demand; steel, where low environmental investment and cheap energy may be viewed as unfair subsidies; and citrus, which has successfully adapted to stringent EU and US market demands. The document argues that while formal WTO-legal green trade barriers are unlikely, informal pressures like eco-labeling and buyer specifications are increasing. It recommends better information gathering, stronger international representation, and government support for small exporters to meet international environmental standards.

The paper analyzes how South Africa and Brazil utilize climate financing to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, highlighting the differences between South Africa's coal-dominant economy and Brazil's land-use-driven emissions. It evaluates national mechanisms such as South Africa's carbon tax and Brazil's proposed Emissions Trading Scheme, while advocating for the reform of multilateral development banks to lower the cost of capital for the Global South. The author emphasizes the importance of green taxonomies and central bank risk management in mobilizing private investment and ensuring financial stability during the energy transition.

Nedbank implemented the TNFD LEAP framework to assess nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities (DIROs) within its credit portfolio, primarily focusing on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Using a double materiality lens and tools like ENCORE and the WWF Water Risk Filter, the bank identified six priority sectors—real estate, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, mining and quarrying, energy, and agriculture—based on financial exposure and nature-related scores. While real estate had the highest financial exposure but low nature impact, primary sectors like agriculture and mining showed high dependency and impact. A specific review of a mining client revealed operational interfaces with Critical Biodiversity Areas and Strategic Groundwater Resource Areas, highlighting risks associated with South Africa's water scarcity. The bank is now moving into Phase 2 to quantify financial risks and identify nature-positive lending opportunities.

The document analyzes the South African Climate Change Act as a framework for transforming the food system, which contributes approximately 20% of national emissions and is highly vulnerable to climate shocks. It identifies specific legal avenues—such as the National Adaptation Strategy and Plan (NASP), municipal climate response plans, and the Presidential Climate Commission—where farmers, workers, and civil society can intervene to promote agroecology, land rights, and food price stability. The author emphasizes that while the Act provides the legal framework, it does not guarantee funding or specific ground-level obligations, making active public participation essential to ensure a 'just transition' that protects vulnerable groups including women, youth, and smallholder farmers.

The report addresses the need for a transparent mechanism to measure the workforce transition in Canada following the enactment of the Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act in June 2024. It argues that tracking must go beyond counting 'green jobs' to include job quality, social equity, and governance. The authors propose a framework based on 'Risk, Response, and Results,' identifying 18 key indicators—such as community susceptibility, Indigenous partnership in governance, and sustainable job compensation—to monitor federal progress. The report emphasizes that these indicators require operational definitions and a whole-of-government approach to data collection to ensure the transition is equitable and aligned with the Paris Agreement.

The report analyzes the dependence of BRICS governments on fossil fuel revenues and the risks posed by the clean energy transition, including asset stranding and revenue loss. It provides 2017 data on revenues and subsidies, highlighting Russia's high fiscal exposure and the potential for 'fossil fuel to clean energy subsidy swaps' to fund a just transition.

The report highlights the potential for e-mobility, specifically low-speed electric vehicles (LSEVs) and micromobility, to provide affordable transport in the SADC region. It identifies infrastructure gaps and a lack of political will as primary barriers, while suggesting that the region's strategic mineral reserves could provide global bargaining power. The author advocates for the use of existing frameworks like the SADC RISDP 2020–30 and the Green Economy Strategy to accelerate the transition and recommends that South Africa join the IEA's Electric Vehicles Initiative.

The document opposes the push for new gas infrastructure in Africa, which it describes as a short-term solution for European energy security that risks irreversible climate disaster. It highlights the disproportionate impact of climate change on Africa, the environmental damage caused by gas extraction in Nigeria and Mozambique, and the inadequacy of 'net zero' pledges. The authors call for an immediate end to fossil fuel financing and the implementation of a 100% renewable energy goal for Africa by 2050, funded by climate debt repayments from the Global North.

The report identifies a total available energy services market in South Africa valued at approximately R125 billion by 2035, driven by rising electricity costs and falling technology prices. It highlights growth in rooftop solar PV, energy storage, and energy efficiency, while detailing the shift from a single-operator utility model to a distributed generation model. Key emerging opportunities include commercial off-the-shelf systems, project bundling, and building modernisation, supported by innovative finance mechanisms like PACE and a growing framework of municipal small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) regulations.

The report examines the challenges of a just energy transition in Colombia's coal-producing regions of Cesar and La Guajira. It analyzes the differing visions of transition held by national and regional actors, the power dynamics that resist the planned phase-out of coal mining, and the efforts of civil society to promote sustainable futures. This work is part of a broader comparative project involving South Africa and Indonesia to understand energy transition hurdles in Global South coal-producing nations.