The Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) in South Africa
South Africa is already exposed to the impact of climate change, including droughts, floods and other extreme weather events. These events damage the country’s infrastructure, ecosystems, lives and livelihoods, generate food insecurity and constrain the already scarce water resources. For instance, in April-May 2022 floods struck the KwaZulu-Natal province resulting in the loss of lives and livelihoods, displacement of people, extensive damage to infrastructure and disruption of services. Further, poverty, unemployment and inequality represent pre-existing challenges on the South African labour market that have been aggravated by climate change. In the first quarter of 2024, the official unemployment rate stands at 32,9% (Republic of South Africa, 2024). Hence, it is urgent to build the required skills to transition to green jobs and mobilise financial support.
The PCC adopted the Framework for a Just Transition in South Africa in 2022. It is guided by the ILO Guidelines for a Just Transition (2015). The Framework builds on research, policies and consultations on the just transition in South Africa, including those facilitated by the National Planning Commission (NPC 2019) and the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC 2020).
Addressing the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality, the Framework supports the country’s broader efforts to redesign the economy for an effective response to climate change. It establishes principles to guide the transition focusing on distributive justice, restorative justice and procedural justice, identifies at-risk sectors and value chains, outlines key policy areas to implement the transition, proposes effective governance arrangements, and addresses the financial aspects for a Just Transition.
The Framework also envisages an “Action Plan to Give Immediate Effect to a Just Transition” by determining the long-term outcomes, the short-term decisions and actions required, and associated responsibilities and risks
South Africa, with a reported dependence on fossil fuel sources of 80% in 2018, has been committed to supporting a green transition that is just through social dialogue. Government and social partners signed a Green Economy Accord in November 2011 to gain a better understanding of the complex facets of the green transition. South Africa joined the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), an inter-agency United Nations (UN) programme, in 2015. In response to a government request, the Green Economy Inventory for South Africa (GEISA) was developed in 2016 and published in 2017. This inventory serves as a high-level overview of green economy initiatives across various sectors, levels of government, and service categories.
In a Framework Agreement (2018) endorsed at the Presidential Jobs Summit held in October 2018, tripartite partners agreed that a climate commission should be established under the Presidency to coordinate and oversee the just transition process. One of the first tasks of such a commission would be to understand the impact of climate change on jobs. In December 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa established the Presidential Climate Commission towards Just Transition (PCC) to support a low-emissions and climate-resilient economy. The objective is to build consensus between social partners around a just transition through an inclusive, transparent, action-oriented process.
The PCC is an independent, statutory, multistakeholder body whose mission is to promote social partnerships by engaging with various stakeholders, including all spheres of government, business, labour, academia, communities, and civil society. It is composed of a secretariat and commissioners; the latter includes representatives from social partners such as the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA). The Commission’s mandate focuses on:
- Providing evidence-based information to support decision making by social partners.
- Building consensus between stakeholders and social partners to enable policy and action for a just transition.
- Advising on means of implementation, including finance, capacity and technology.
One of the first tasks of the PCC was to design a just transition framework for South Africa. After an extensive research and consultation process, the framework was adopted in 2022 (Presidential Climate Commission (PCC), 2022). Since then, the PCC has engaged with stakeholders on the work that needs to be undertaken to support a just transition. For example, the PCC facilitated consultations on the Just Energy Transition, which is contributing to the implementation of South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP) 2023-2027. In all its activities, the PCC works with social partners to build strong partnerships and build consensus.
The PCC publishes recommendation reports, which are based on technical research and extensive stakeholder consultation, to support a just transition, including recommendations on the just transition financing mechanism, social ownership models in energy transition and electricity planning.
The Commission also releases reports summarising stakeholders’ perspectives on a certain issue. For instance, a Stakeholder Report, published in May 2024 on the exchange between the PCC and the European Union on Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience, underlines the importance of taking into account multiple perspectives to unpack the interrelated socio-economic drivers of climate risks. This process will support the PCC to issue recommendations to further strengthen climate resilience (Presidential Climate Commission and European Union (PCC-EU), 2024).
Since its establishment, the Commission has been publishing annual reports to monitor and critically evaluate progress and provide insights on significant challenges related to the just transition such as job losses. The last annual review was published in the beginning of April 2024 (Presidential Climate Commission (PCC), 2024[44]) and covers different aspects of the just transition, including the energy transition, building livelihoods and skills in the climate transition, building adaptation and resilience for a just transition, mobilising finance for the just transition, tracking the just transition, building awareness, fostering dialogue and forging consensus. For example, as mentioned in the annual review, to mitigate job losses during the energy transition, the PCC conducted research on opportunities to create jobs in Mpumalanga in consultation with stakeholders. Seven value chains with the highest job-creation potential were identified, including for example the wood, citrus and tourism value chains, which are part of growing existing economic sectors. The recommendations for employment opportunities will be integrated into regional economic planning processes and the update of the Mpumalanga Provincial Growth and Development Strategy.
The Commission is further working on recommendations on the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of South Africa, which will be revised in 2025, as required by the Paris Agreement. After extensive consultation with different stakeholders and social partners, the Commission proposed a more demanding target range in 2021 than those adopted in 2016.
Currently, the Commission is working with different stakeholders for South Africa’s decarbonisation pathway, setting new development targets that are economically and technically feasible. For example, the Commission published a statement on 3 May 2024, welcoming the release of the 9th Green House Gas Emissions Inventory and Sectoral Emissions Targets and inviting all stakeholders to provide comments during the public consultation process.
In the coming years, the Commission plans to focus on “adaptation and resilience, particularly in terms of how to finance investment in these sectors; mitigation modelling and the exploration of pathways to net-zero emissions; development of employment, economic diversification and reskilling strategies; awareness and outreach on climate change and the just transition; and monitoring and evaluation of the work undertaken by social partners on the just transition” (Presidential Climate Commission (PCC), 2024).
Key Lessons
An advisory body with a multistakeholder governance structure, including social partners, is an effective way to promote, coordinate and oversee the just transition.
As part of the PCC, social partners play a key role in building consensus on necessary labour market policies and reforms for a just transition.
The PCC also proved to be effective for the revision of the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) required by the Paris Agreement.
The PCC has played a critical role in supporting inclusive approaches by paying attention to all groups of workers on the labour market, including the most vulnerable ones.
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