Project 90 by 2030 is a non-profit organisation (NPO) established in 2007, which aims to increase awareness around energy and climate change and inspire necessary low-carbon action to be taken by Government and Civil Society sectors in South Africa. We understand that a Government- Civil Society Partnership, with both parties actively contributing, is essential for the transformation of South Africa into a low-carbon society through the successful implementation policies, and changed daily lifestyles and practices.
The African Climate Reality Project (ACRP) is the African chapter of former Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project and is hosted on the continent by Food & Trees for Africa, which aims to increase awareness and action and mobilise communities from Algeria to Zimbabwe to find solutions to climate change.
Both Project 90 by 2030 and African Climate Reality Project welcomed the opportunity to comment on the revised Integrated Resource Plan 2018 (IRP 2018). Our collective outlook is focused on the intersection of environmental and social justice issues and we believe the IRP 2018 directly impacts both issues. Project 90 by 2030 and the ACRP have been actively involved in energy governance issues in South Africa – through the Energy Governance South Africa (EGSA) network convened by Project 90 by 2030 and through our activism efforts over the past 11 years.
Furthermore, both organisations are firm believers and supporters of the Just Transition and its offshoot, the Just Energy Transition movement – a globally recognised and accepted movement that is beginning to permeate policy and legislation in South Africa. This movement seeks ‘energy democracy’: accessible and affordable supply of energy; a fundamental shift in the ownership structure of energy generation technologies; and the empowerment & compensation of workers who are likely to lose their jobs during the transition.
It is through this lens that we approached the proposed IRP and it is, again, through this lens, that we tender these comments.
