In a bid to ensure that no-one is left behind, Earthlife Africa Johannesburg had initiated several dialogues and workshops focussed on climate change issues and what the just transition is.
As the climate crises intensifies, South Africa needs a #JustTransition to help the country move to a low-carbon economy. By ensuring that the transition is just, we will be able to achieve our climate goals in a way that considers the need for decent work, social inclusion, and poverty eradication. It is therefore critical that all sectors of our society MUST be involved. This is the only way the just transition can work.
Already in 2021, in a bid to ensure that no-one is left behind, Earthlife Africa Johannesburg had initiated several dialogues and workshops focused on climate change issues and what the just transition is, and what it should look like, if the goal is to benefit our entire society. According to Earthlife Africa’s Programs Coordinator Sbongile Ndlovu, the eco-justice organisation will ramp-up efforts even more in 2022, focusing on Limpopo, Gauteng, and Eastern Cape provinces.
She says, “In the various communities (from Lephalale Limpopo; Orange Farm, Tembisa and Vosloorus Gauteng; Gqeberha and Uitenhage Eastern Cape) participants were engaging well and seemed to understand the issues even though it was the first time they had a just transition dialogue in their community.”
Ndlovu says, “South Africans are tired of struggling. Not only do we struggle because electricity is so expensive, but we also must deal with the impacts of loadshedding. But people have their own ideas of how to improve their lives. They want to farm. They want renewable energy. They do not want expensive and dangerous nuclear, and no more dirty and harmful coal (which is not only harming our environment but our communities, as well).
“While the young people in our sessions are understandably mostly concerned about unemployment, they also complained that government continues to make decisions about them, without any consultation with them. This has come up time and time again in our dialogues. People want more inclusion from decision makers. And the reality is, there are a host of issues that make the need for meaningful and robust public participation a critical part of project assessment. For example, where will gender issues fit into government’s plans for a just transition?” says Ndlovu.
“Far from a passive learning experience, participants are expected to work together as groups (e.g. with community-based organisations) to empower themselves and share information with each other about energy issues, climate change and just transition. They do this by reading newspapers, watching the news and also by participating in all gatherings at local level that are hosted by municipality and government.
According to Earthlife Africa’s Bongiwe Matsoha, who leads the Presidential Climate Change community activists’ group adds, “It is critical that communities and young activists feel involved in the just transition because it will ultimately depend on all of us, each and every person, to be part of this much need action. This is why Earthlife Africa has embarked on this journey, with our communities and youth, to ensure that no-one is left behind.”
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