Applying a normative framework to assess the just transition to a net zero carbon society in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Just transitions towards sustainability, in which the equity and wellbeing of all South Africans and the environmental sustainability of the country’s valuable natural systems is prioritised, need to be commensurate with the scale of the challenge. They should deepen and pick up pace. And they must shift from managerialist approaches towards structural and transformative just transition ones, which add meaning to the mantra of ‘leaving no one behind’.The COVID-19 pandemic has unmasked (once more) the full extent of the inequalities between and within countries, and reinforced the need to carve a safe and just space for all of humankind. It has opened, in some places, the political moment to question the purpose of our economies. It is possible to build societies and economies that are more just, equal and inclusive;are better integrated with nature;that offer social protection for all and that are more informed by science, but only if we act now. A just transition is imperative to achieve the policy frameworks and processes that will deliver development pathways leading to a fair and sustainable world