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The document evaluates the IMF's updated surveillance practices by analyzing recent reports for Indonesia and South Africa. While it notes a 'sea change' in the IMF's willingness to integrate climate issues—such as endorsing carbon taxes and green financing—it argues that the organization continues to prioritize steep fiscal consolidation and austerity. This focus on budget deficit ceilings is seen as a threat to the funding required for climate adaptation and mitigation. The authors highlight significant 'blind spots,' including the failure to fully account for the long-term fiscal risks of stranded fossil fuel assets and the potential for carbon-intensive exports to decline as trade partners decarbonize. The report concludes that while there is 'cautious optimism' due to more sophisticated analytical work, the IMF's advice remains insufficient for achieving a socially-just green transition.

The document outlines the potential for synergy between Korea's technological and management expertise and Africa's abundant natural resources. It contrasts Africa's current economic struggles—including infrastructure deficits and the HIV/AIDS epidemic—with Korea's transition from a war-ravaged nation in the 1950s to an OECD member by 1996. The speaker emphasizes that Africa can learn from Korea's state-led industrialization and rural development initiatives, such as the Saemoul Undong, to achieve sustainable growth and poverty eradication.

The document provides a conceptual framework for analyzing the 'Just Energy Transition' in three African countries, focusing on the localisation of renewable energy technologies. It utilizes the Global Production Networks (GPN) approach to examine the interplay between value creation, power dynamics, and embeddedness. The framework argues that for a transition to be 'just,' it must move beyond simple job creation to ensure 'social upgrading'—improvements in workers' rights, gender equity, and sustainable livelihoods. It specifically highlights the role of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and the necessity of state-led industrial policy to overcome the dominance of multinational firms and the risks of 'adverse inclusion' in global value chains.

The research paper outlines a strategic framework to align South Africa's TVET system with the needs of a future green hydrogen economy. Using foresight tools like the Three Horizons Framework and scenario planning, it identifies systemic failures in the current TVET model—such as misalignment with industry needs and funding deficits—and proposes a shift toward 'economic wellbeing' rather than just job placement. The framework suggests sustained innovations, such as scaling Centres of Specialisation (CoS), and disruptive innovations, including nano/micro-credentialing and the use of AR/VR toolkits, to ensure a just labour transition by 2050.

The author contends that Africa's industrialization is hindered by a fragmented policy landscape where countries are often subject to three or more overlapping industrial strategies. This coordination failure, combined with poor infrastructure and low innovation capacity, has led to 'de-industrialisation' in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the industrial sector's contribution to GDP has declined relative to the primary sector. To leverage the AfCFTA, the paper proposes a unified industrial policy focusing on pooled resources for infrastructure, regional product specialization, SME growth, clean energy transitions, and the development of indigenous technologies.

The document outlines a framework for a Just Energy Transition (JET) in the Global South, specifically focusing on Latin America, the Caribbean (LAC), and Africa. It argues for a comprehensive transformation across social, economic, and environmental spheres, emphasizing the phase-out of all fossil fuels by 2040. For LAC, the brief highlights a strong dependence on extractive industries and the need for economic diversification. For Africa, it emphasizes the urgency of energy access, as 600 million people lack electricity, and warns against increasing debt through loans for transition. Both regions call for increased social participation, the protection of human rights, and the sustainable management of transition minerals. The brief concludes with specific demands for COP28, including new and additional funding from developed nations and the transfer of renewable energy technology as a public good.

The Institute for Economic Justice argues that South Africa's JETP is a flawed climate finance model that relies heavily on loans rather than grants, benefiting private Independent Power Producers (IPPs) while leaving the state with the financial risk. The author contends that the deal lacks transparency, fails to adequately fund the localization of the renewable energy value chain, and provides insufficient social security for workers in the coal belt.

This research paper examines the role of green technology, specifically solar photovoltaic (PV) and onshore wind energy, in decarbonisation and industrialisation. It argues that market forces alone are insufficient for scaling renewable energy and emphasizes the necessity of targeted industrial policy and government intervention to ensure equitable transitions, particularly in developing economies like South Africa and Brazil.

The research paper examines the increasing role of GCC countries—primarily the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar—as major investors in Africa's energy transition and infrastructure. It identifies food security and economic diversification away from hydrocarbons as the primary drivers for Gulf states. While highlighting significant projects in renewable energy and mining, the paper warns that the current focus on large-scale, export-oriented developments may sideline local community needs and climate adaptation priorities unless African policymakers actively steer investments toward local beneficiation and regional integration.

The document addresses the need for credible financing to accelerate the global transition from coal to clean energy, specifically focusing on coal transition mechanisms (CTMs). It highlights that while CTMs are essential because 93 percent of coal capacity is shielded from market pressures by regulation or contracts, they face significant reputational risks and constraints from private financial institution policies. To address this, the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), and RMI have developed guidelines to ensure CTMs deliver positive climate and social outcomes, avoid moral hazard, and support a just transition for workers and communities.

The document examines the complementary strengths of China, as a global leader in green technology manufacturing, and Africa, which possesses vast renewable energy potential and critical mineral reserves. It highlights the shift in China's approach toward treating Africa as a business partner and details the specific clean energy commitments made during FOCAC 2024. However, it argues that Africa must enhance its own internal resource mobilization, reduce dependency on external aid, and improve project implementation timelines to fully realize these opportunities.

The report evaluates the South African financial sector's capacity to adopt the TNFD framework, finding that while there is high recognition of the sector's impact on nature loss, there is a significant gap in the implementation of nature-related targets and expertise. It highlights the economic value of South Africa's ecosystem services and argues that private finance is essential to meet the Global Biodiversity Framework's '30x30' conservation target.

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.

In a speech delivered at a conference in Pretoria, Deputy Ambassador Søren Asp Mikkelsen discusses the necessity of a new international climate regime to replace the Kyoto Protocol, emphasizing the need for inclusive emission reductions and financial support for least developed countries. He highlights the 'Danish Wind Case' to demonstrate how legislative changes—such as feed-in tariffs and carbon taxes—can decouple economic growth from energy consumption and create a competitive export industry in renewable technology.

Good Governance Africa argues that South Africa's budget speech ignores critical fiscal threats, including ballooning debt, a shrinking tax base, and extreme unemployment. The author criticizes the lack of a clear plan for private sector job creation and the insufficient attention given to climate change and the energy transition, specifically regarding the retirement of coal plants and the development of renewables.

The document outlines the necessity of a 'just transition' in South Africa's food systems, moving away from industrial models that marginalize small-scale farmers and workers. It identifies key barriers, such as the dominance of large corporations and a policy focus limited to the energy sector, and proposes a framework based on agroecology, fair livelihoods, and the right to nutritious food. The text emphasizes that industrial food production contributes approximately 18% of South Africa's greenhouse gas emissions and leaves the food supply highly vulnerable to climate change.

The document analyzes the intersection of the AfCFTA and climate action, arguing that while the agreement has minimal environmental references, it can be adjusted to eliminate barriers to environmental goods and services. It emphasizes the need for a phased decarbonization approach for fossil-fuel-dependent nations and suggests that instead of adding a new Environmental Protocol, existing continental climate strategies should be reinforced. The text calls for increased climate financing, technology transfer from partners like the EU and US, and the promotion of a circular economy to ensure that increased intra-African trade does not lead to higher greenhouse gas emissions.

The research paper assesses the capacity of the South African state to implement a just energy transition (JET), concluding that current state capacity is low due to a reliance on top-down, 'tick-box' public participation rather than genuine co-production. It defines a 'transition effective state' as one capable of identifying and solving community-priority problems through collaborative, context-specific processes. Fieldwork in Mpumalanga reveals that critical issues—such as the informal economy's dependence on coal, water rights, and the loss of corporate social investment services—remain invisible in national policies. The author recommends developing detailed guidelines for co-production and applying them to specific gaps in the JET framework to build legitimacy and ensure social equity.

The 2012 SAIIA Young Leaders Declaration calls for international and national action on environmental sustainability, the eradication of poverty in Least Developed Countries, and the transition to renewable energy in South Africa. It further advocates for universal education through improved infrastructure and teacher support, and proposes a specific structural reform of the UN Security Council to ensure fairer regional representation, particularly for Africa.

The fact sheet proposes a Universal Basic Income Guarantee (UBIG) as a tool to support South Africa's Just Energy Transition (JET). It argues that while the shift to renewables is necessary for climate goals, it threatens coal-dependent industries and communities. A UBIG would provide a non-conditional financial safety net to cushion economic shocks, build resilience against climate crises, and ensure that the risks and benefits of the energy transition are redistributed equitably, particularly for vulnerable groups like informal workers and caregivers.