TIPS Webinar-Unravelling South Africa's Just Transition: Stakeholder perspectives

On 29 September 2020 at 10:00 (CEST), Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) is hosting a webinar of on 'Unravelling South Africa’s Just Transition: Stakeholder perspectives'.

South Africa, a carbon-intensive economy, has initiated a transition to a more sustainable development pathway. While this is centred on the energy sector, the transition is an economy-wide transformation. In a highly unequal society like South Africa, the need for a just transition which would empower vulnerable stakeholders has emerged as an imperative. Yet tensions remain, which hinder an inclusive process and outcomes. Part of the early process is forming a unified understanding and pathway that is inclusive and just. What do stakeholders mean when they talk about a just transition? How can South Africa achieve a just transition? This dialogue explores stakeholder perspectives from government, the private sector, the labour movement and civil society.

It builds on a first dialogue hosted on 7 July. The recording is available here.

About the Speakers

• Tracey Davies is the Executive Director of Just Share, a non-profit shareholder activism organisation. She is admitted as an attorney in South Africa, and is a renowned expert on responsible investment, shareholder activism, and corporate governance and transparency in South Africa.
• Ashraf Kariem is Chief Expert Economy in the National Planning Commission (NPC) secretariat, within the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME). He was part of the team overseeing the NPC's just transition dialogue process.
• Jacklyn Cock is a professor emeritus in the Department of Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand and an Honorary Research Professor in the Society, Work and Development Research Unit (SWOP). She has written extensively on environment, gender and militarisation issues.
• Sherman Indhul is the Executive Manager: Corporate Sustainability at Transnet. His experience over the past 15 years in the public and private sectors has led to a focus on sustainability, and specifically on climate change. He notably sits on the Steering Committee of the National Business Initiative's (NBI) Just Transition Pathways Project.
• Muhammed Patel is an Economist at TIPS. He has experience in the coal and petrochemical value chains. He is the lead author of the National Employment Vulnerability Assessment (NEVA) and Sector Jobs Resilience Plan (SJRP) for the coal value chain in South Africa.

About the Facilitator

• Gaylor Montmasson-Clair is a Senior Economist at TIPS, where he leads work on Sustainable Growth. He has carried out extensive research on the transition to an inclusive green economy from a developing country perspective, with a focus on policy frameworks, industrial development, just transition and resource security.