Sustainable Development

Real ambitions vs. false solutions: The stakes at COP26

States will gather for the global climate talks in Glasgow between 31 October and 12 November. What future will they choose for us?

What we do

Faced with on-going development challenges compounded by the imminent threat of a warming and unstable global climate, sustainable development considerations have never been more compelling in Southern Africa.

Responsible decision making requires that we balance social, economic, and environmental objectives, taking due consideration of rights-based approaches to development in order to sustain life and the well-being of our current and future generations. This philosophy underpins the Sustainable Development Programme which encompasses four main themes: climate change, energy, resource governance and green development. The programme seeks to facilitate platforms for civil society, policy makers, decision makers and other stakeholders traditionally left out of the mainstream discourse to ensure that the interconnectedness between humans and nature is understood.

Partners

Deferred not defeated: the outcome on Loss and Damage finance at COP26 and next steps

Analysis

Momentum gained on finance for Loss and Damage at COP26, if not derailed, can lead to more success at COP27 in Egypt.

By Liane Schalatek and Erin Roberts

False solutions prevail over real ambition at COP26

Analysis

COP26 in Glasgow started with a plethora of declarations. But in the end it failed to deliver on the real and immediate action needed to avoid climate catastrophe, and to address the demand for justice and equity for those most impacted by climate harms.

By Erika Lennon, Sebastien Duyck and Nikki Reisch

“Glass less than half full” – Glasgow climate finance outcomes leave much room for improvements despite some wins

Article

Progress on core climate finance issues at COP26 proved to be key to break deadlocks and to reach often inadequate compromises in the Glasgow Climate Pact.

By Liane Schalatek

Medupi power station provides a significant part of Africas electricity.

Could a Green New Deal Clean Up Africa’s Dirtiest Electricity Grid?

Civil society organisations in South Africa are proposing a post-WW2-style economic recovery programme to steer energy transformation for the state utility that echoes Roosevelt’s New Deal in the USA. But the country has been thrown into an even deeper energy crisis, following an explosion at one of the country’s newly-minted power stations. Could this make the ‘Green New Eskom’ idea even more relevant?

By Leonie Joubert

Drastic warming and increased droughts were already registered in southern Africa.

Livestock and Maize at Sharp Edge of Climate Emergency in Southern Africa

Southern Africa is warming at twice the rate of the global average. Worsening drought and rising temperatures are likely to bring about a collapse of two keystone agricultural activities — livestock and maize farming — warns the latest climate science, presented in the long-awaited United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) new report.

By Leonie Joubert

Neither Climate Nor Jobs

A continuing insistence on nuclear will be detrimental to our ability to power a Just Transition: while the jobs it creates are few and primarily for the highly skilled, its enormous costs will likely result in austerity policies.

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