In the face of the climate crisis, growing social and economic inequalities, deepening geopolitical challenges, and global health vulnerabilities, the transition to low-carbon futures has become increasingly urgent. Using diverse approaches and perspectives, the book, A Just Transition to a Low Carbon Future in South Africa, edited by Nqobile Xaba and Saliem Fakir, makes the case for a people-centred energy transition in South Africa, one that considers climate, environmental, and socio-economic goals. A running theme in the book is the embeddedness of the transition in a complex web of internal and external realities and forces, making it impossible to address the transition as a single issue.
The authors go into great depth to explore, uncover, and shed light on this web by interrogating and unpacking the complex historical, social, economic, cultural, political, and geopolitical factors in which the just energy transition is unfolding. They also map out the contextual conditions, policy landscapes, intersectional opportunities, elements, and pathways for a successful transition. They leave the reader convinced that the energy transition in South Africa can only be a just one and show that to succeed, the transition must be comprehensive, inclusive, and collaborative.
In the introduction, the authors trace the origins of the ‘just transition’ to the trade union movement in the United States, but go to great lengths to situate it within the South African energy transition context and broader socio-economic policy landscape by bringing out their inherent connections. Cautioning on the need to pay special attention to the potential adverse impacts of the transition on the poor and vulnerable, the authors flag the complexity and underlying challenges to a just energy transition as well as the critical elements needed to make a societal-wide transformation. The rest of the book is divided into four thematic sections with thirteen chapters. The chapters map out the shifts required to facilitate, enable and sustain a just energy transition for all South Africans.
In chapter two, focused on the move from climate change to a just energy transition (pp. 31–57), the authors argue that scientific consensus linking climate change to the production and use of fossil fuels, such as coal, demands a transition away from carbon-intensive economies to cleaner, low carbon-intensive economies (p. 31). Taking the country’s reliance on coal as a starting point, the authors make the case for an interconnected approach that considers the complex contextual and layered socio-economic realities and policy frameworks to guarantee and sustain a just transition for all South Africans. The following chapters address the need for a shift in the current economic paradigm of endless growth and consumption to a ‘people-centred approach’, which is conscious of the inherent socio-economic inequalities and injustices, mostly felt and experienced by at-risk and vulnerable communities.
In section three, the authors zero in on the role of technology in enabling the realisation of a just energy transition. In chapters six and seven, the authors highlight opportunities with the potential to support the just transition, such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and international climate finance, respectively. Chapter eight focuses on the role of hydrogen in the transition to a low-carbon economy. The last section addresses the social factors in climate change and the just transition (pp. 279–318) and concludes with recommendations to guide policy makers in the design and implementation of a people-centred just transition.
However, despite its strengths and comprehensive interdisciplinary approach, the book does not adequately address the question of governance: political will, institutional and legal framework. The reality is that the real-world implementation of the just energy transition is often contested, and questions of governance will play a central role in enabling or constraining the just energy transition in South Africa. Governance is especially important in ensuring procedural justice and the fair distribution of risks and benefits of the transition. To be fair, the authors touch on this theme in different chapters, including chapter nine, where they call for the consideration of ‘multi-scale, multi-stakeholder processes’ (p. 252) and in the concluding chapter where the need to ‘define a clear and managed approach to decarbonization’ (p. 382) is underlined. However, an issue of such great importance to the success and sustainability of the just energy transition warrants more attention, perhaps in a section of its own.
Nevertheless, the book has achieved its stated goal ‘to interrogate how South Africa can ensure a just transition to a low carbon economy’ (p. 12). It exposes South Africa’s challenges, but also positions it as a country willing to investigate and consider its past and present and tap into emerging narratives, visions, and international obligations to inform its policy design and implementations. It, however, goes beyond this goal by drawing on diverse examples outside South Africa and lessons from external forces, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing geopolitical contestations, to map out potential risks and opportunities of the energy transition. In so doing, the authors place the just energy transition in South Africa into the broader just transition and socio-economic development discourse. The result is a well-structured and looped manuscript, easy to assess in whole or parts by diverse readers, including policy makers and implementors, academics, students, and civil society.