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Global efforts to mitigate climate change are ramping up, with a rising numbers of countries, companies and financiers taking action to tackle climate change. At the same time, climate changes, such as temperature and weather changes, are increasing, with dramatic impacts on populations. These are having material impacts on the economy and society. In the short term, dealing with this transition has materialised primarily in a focus on the decarbonisation of the energy systems. In the medium to long term, this will extend to virtually all sectors and segments of society.

In this context, the just transition agenda has taken centre stage. It aims to lower the risks faced by the most affected and vulnerable stakeholders, such as working people, small businesses and low-income communities, while providing an opportunity to maximise the development of new opportunities and redress historical injustices.

Establishing a credible fact base is paramount for designing and implementing an evidence-based just transition. To allow easy access to a growing body of work on just transition, TIPS has curated relevant content into an open knowledge portal. This provides short summaries as well as key findings and recommendations from a diversity of reports, strategies, videos and podcasts. The knowledge portal focuses on South Africa but will be extended to other areas in the future.

TIPS is updating the Just Transition Portal!

As an implementing partner of the multi-year program Just Transition to a Decarbonised Economy for South Africa (JUST SA), we are planning to migrate the portal to the JUST SA website when it is up and running. Until then, please feel free to contact info@tips.org.za should you be interested in suggesting additional resources that we can upload to the portal in its current form.

More on JUST SA: The Just Transition to a Decarbonised Economy for South Africa (JUST SA) aims to support the implementation of pathways towards a just transition towards an environmentally sustainable, climate change resilient, low-carbon economy and just society. The project is funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI). Implementing partner organisations include GIZ, GreenCape, NBI, Yes4Youth, WWF, and TIPS. The program’s main political partner is the National Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE).

Featured material

Just transitions and the green economy - navigating the fault lines

SUMMARY: The paper frames the Just Transition from a moral and business perspective. It assesses how much responsibility companies and organisations should have for the impact their clients have on

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National employment vulnerability assessment: analysis of potential climate change-related impacts and vulnerable groups

SUMMARY: The report provides a detailed analysis of the capacity of vulnerable communities, workers and businesses to adjust to climate change-related impacts in the coal, metals, transport-based petroleum, agricultural value

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Down to zero: The politics of Just Transition

SUMMARY: This book looks at the anticipated impact of climate change and the experiences of millions of people who are facing a climate disaster, focusing on Southern and South Africa.

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Unlocking a just energy transition for SA

SUMMARY: Professor Mark Swilling discusses the global renewable energy revolution, the public sector’s role in investment in renewables and how renewable energy has the potential to change social politics and

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Rehabilitation of mine contaminated eco-systems – A contribution to a Just Transition to a low-carbon economy to combat unemployment and climate change

  • Institution / Author: Federation for a Sustainable Environment [Liefferink, M.]
  • Year: 2016
  • Sectoral focus: Coal, Mining, Natural resource management
  • Thematic focus: Advocacy, Policy interventions / recommendations, Project identification / promotion
  • Type of analysis: Desktop research
  • Type of document: Book
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SUMMARY: The booklet makes a case for a project to address the waste and pollution legacy of mining in the Witwatersrand basin with a clear linkage between the potential for revenue generation through materials reclamation and comprehensively addressing the entire rehabilitation challenge, with the participation of all stakeholders. The paper sketches the background and the extent of the challenge, the legislative and regulatory context, and the imperatives for urgent action, then focuses on the Tweelopiespruit wetlands area for a potential pilot project.

KEY FINDING / RECOMMENDATIONS: Gold and uranium mining in the Witwatersrand gold fields has resulted in contamination and destruction of wetlands, as well as negative impacts on biodiversity and on soil, groundwater and air quality. Pollution from Witwatersrand mines poses hazards to surrounding communities. The main pathways are: the airborne pathway, where radon gas and windblown dust disperse outwards from mine site and the waterborne pathway, either via ground or surface water or due to direct access, where people are contaminated and living in settlements directly adjacent to mines or living in settlements on the contaminated footprints of abandoned mines.

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