environmental rehabilitation – Just Transition Initiative

Summary

The authors seek to offer insights into how transitions impact people, economies, and the environment, as well as the extent of the effectiveness of different kinds of responses including the impacts of not responding. Moreover, it provides useful considerations related to the needs of those who lose out in society, while addressing overall concerns about inequalities in societies affected by deep structural changes. The report was used to inform EBRD’s approach to just transitions, as set out in the document “The EBRD Just Transition Initiative”.

The authors highlight that without measures to promote a “just” transition, resistance will likely undermine its pace. They draw inferences from other deep structural transitions, such as the steel industries in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Newcastle, Australia, as well as the gold industry in Free State Province, South Africa, to offer insights into what to expect from a green transition.

The authors suggest a series of considerations for EBRD’s operational response to a just transition in order to create viable short-term and long-term solutions for local populations who are affected. Notably, they point out the need for strategic planning for impacted communities, governance structures, and state capacity to implement just transition actions, along with a holistic approach to regional economic development.

Summary

This compilation of research from various institutions details the environmental and social harm caused by South Africa’s coal industry. The report provides detailed analysis of the social, gender, and environmental impacts of coal mining and identifies the failures of South Africa’s social and environmental policy frameworks.

Coal regions such as Highveld and Mpumalanga, which contain the largest fertile lands in the country and were once an important source of fresh water, have been reduced to “toxic lands.” Several essays in the report criticize the government’s failure to regulate air pollution, calling for tighter regulatory oversight and a new focus on sustainability founded in economic, social, and environmental justice. The report criticizes the lack of enforcement of the Social and Labor Plans (SLPs) that coal companies must submit to win mining licenses. The Centre for Applied Legal Studies outlines the absence of community involvement or transparency in such plans, which often means communities have no access to them. Two organizations, groundWork and Friends of the Earth South Africa, call for a just transition as the only way forward for South Africans. An appendix in the report includes recommended links to reports and studies by other environmental groups.