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JUST TRANSITION

The Just Transition programme’s overarching goal is to contribute to a successful climate transition in South Africa; a transition that will contribute to decarbonisation and climate resilience, while prioristing social justice, equity and poverty reduction. We undertake innovative empirical research that contributes directly to national and sub-national policy on rapid decarbonisation of the power sector, equitable access to energy, water and food, and climate resilience of economy and society. The Just Transition Programme is a member of the International Network of Energy Transition Think Tanks (INETTT).

Lead: Dr Tracy Ledger

Researchers: Mahlatsi Rampedi, Waseem Holland, Ntokozo Ndhlovu

Energy GovernanceFeaturedNewsPublicationsReports
September 30, 2024

Report | The Role of the State in a Successful Just Transition: Defining the transition effective state

By Tracy Ledger To date, the details of how to build a transition effective state have received little attention in transition narratives, beyond narrow recommendations for an increase in certain…
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Energy GovernanceFeaturedNewsPublicationsReportsState Reform
September 12, 2024

Report | Transitions: The role of the DMRE in SA’s just energy transition

By Thoko Chilenga-Butao and Waseem Holland A month before the publication of this report, the President announced his new cabinet under a Government of National Unity – appointing two ministers…
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Energy GovernanceMultimediaMultimediaNews
September 12, 2024

Listen | Municipal Accounts: Relief for struggling households as the City of Ekurhuleni implements a 70% debt write-off

Thabiso Tema on PowerFM speaks to Energy Transition Lead, Dr Tracy Ledger. Households that have been struggling to pay rates and taxes to the city of Ekurhuleni can now benefit…
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Energy GovernanceEventsFeaturedNewsPublicationsReportsState Reform
August 21, 2024

Report Launch | Transitions: The role of the DMRE in SA’s just energy transition

Please join us on 12 September to launch a new PARI report Transitions: The role of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy in South Africa's just energy transition by…
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Energy GovernanceFeaturedMultimediaNewsPolicy briefs and resourcesvideos
August 6, 2024

Watch | Renewable energy will fix our economy now

This animation was produced by the Energy Transition programme at the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI). Download the full policy brief: Rapid electricity supply diversification in municipalities is the key…
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BooksEnergy GovernanceNewsPublications
July 15, 2024

Hungry for Electricity: Now available in two languages

Hungry for Electricity is a groundbreaking book by Tracy Ledger and Mahlatse Rampedi arguing for universal access to electricity in South Africa. It is now available in English and French,…
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Energy GovernanceMultimediaNewsvideos
May 31, 2024

Watch | Crux Alliance: a global network of climate NGOs

PARI's Director, Mbongiseni P. Buthelezi, contributes to the conversation how the Crux Alliance aims to support policy makers globally to achieve lower emissions and a safer climate future. PARI is…
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Energy GovernanceNewsOp EdPublications
May 8, 2024

Op Ed | Johannesburg’s electricity tariff trap for the poor

Photo 252665390 | City Joburg © Brian Scantlebury | Dreamstime.com By Tracy Ledger The struggles that poor households face in paying for even small amounts of electricity are well-documented: in many households, electricity…
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Energy GovernanceNewsOp EdPublications
May 3, 2024

Op ed | Rapid municipal energy supply diversification will light way to a much brighter economy

ID 161037019 © Lovelyday12 | Dreamstime.com By Tracy Ledger Rolling blackouts aren’t our only serious electricity problem. South Africa urgently needs additional sources of electricity that are as low-cost as…
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Energy GovernanceLocal GovtPolicy briefs and resourcesPublications
April 18, 2024

Policy brief | Rapid electricity supply diversification in municipalities is the key to economic recovery, municipal financial sustainability and a permanent end to load shedding

This policy brief was developed by PARI’s Energy Transition programme, whose overarching goal is to contribute to the successful implementation of a Just Energy Transition (JET) in South Arica; a…
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ConferenceEnergy GovernanceFeaturedGalleryMultimediaNews
September 12, 2023

PARI hosts the International Network of Energy Transition Think Tanks

For week of the 4th to 8th of September, PARI hosted more than 25 delegates of the International Network of Energy Transition Think Tanks (INETTT) in Johannesburg. INETTT is a…
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Energy GovernanceEventsLocal GovtMultimediaNewswebinars
June 6, 2023

Webinar | Urban-Rural Renewable Energy Transition in Germany and South Africa

6 June 2023 The webinar will look at how energy transition policies in Germany reproduce uneven development between urban and rural territories, and draw parallels to South Africa's REIPP programme,…
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Energy GovernanceFeaturedOp EdPublications
May 15, 2023

Op Ed | Eskom’s debt relief for municipalities strips households of their free basic services

Photo 24519164 / Water Crisis © George Tsartsianidis | Dreamstime.com By Tracy Ledger National Treasury’s Municipal Debt Relief plan effectively means poor households must give up their constitutional rights to…
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Energy GovernanceEventsFeaturedMultimediaNewswebinars
April 19, 2023

WATCH | Between Vision and Reality: Navigating the JETPs in three countries

18 April 2023 Speakers from the International Network of Energy Transition Think Tanks (INETTT) discuss the status quo and challenges in planning and implementing a just energy transition in their…
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Energy GovernanceFeaturedNews
April 17, 2023

Webinar | Between Vision and Reality

Between Vision and Reality: Navigating the JETPs in South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam Speakers from South Africa (PARI), Indonesia (IESR), and Vietnam (VIETSE) will discuss the status quo and challenges…
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Energy GovernanceNewsOp EdPublications
September 23, 2022

Op Ed | Universal access to electricity is the critical development intervention that SA needs

Image: Bram Lammers / Dunoon informal settlement, Cape Town By Tracy Ledger In many households, a choice must be made each month between electricity or food. No matter which option…
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Energy GovernanceOp EdPublications
February 17, 2022

Op Ed | Universal access to electricity is a necessary prerequisite to ending poverty itself

By Tracy Ledger for Energy Governance South Africa Power to the people! This starts with ending energy poverty and prioritising universal access to electricity. Energy poverty is a largely invisible…
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Energy GovernancePublicationsReports
December 15, 2021

Strengthening municipal systems for inclusive and sustainable water and sanitation in South Africa

Water and sanitation progress globally is characterised by poor sustainability, social exclusion, weak accountability, poor scalability, and insufficient prioritisation and resourcing. These issues are symptomatic of system weaknesses, so require…
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Energy GovernancePublicationsReports
November 11, 2021

The Net-Zero Energy Transition: Policy case studies from INETTT

In December 2020, an international group of think tanks working for the energy transition in major and emerging economies around the world came together to create the International Network of…
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Energy GovernanceLocal GovtPublicationsReports
September 30, 2021

Short Report | Access to Basic Services

National government has an obligation to intervene on behalf of communities where municipalities, through inefficiency or a lack of commitment to delivery and development goals, fail to provide affordable services.…
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Energy GovernanceMultimediaNewsvideos
September 22, 2021

WATCH | Should Electricity Be A Free Basic Right?

Is there a duty on the government to provide free basic electricity to the people of South Africa, especially the poor? Dr. Tracy Ledger, a senior researcher and Lead of…
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Energy GovernanceNewspodcasts
August 30, 2021

Podcast | What went wrong with free basic electricity?

This community announcement aims to inform households about why affordable basic energy allocations have not been delivered as promised, and what they can do about it. It is available in…
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Energy GovernanceOISOp EdPublications
August 18, 2021

Op Ed | Energy Transition Moves Beyond the Boardroom

by Vincent Obisie-Orlu In May Royal Dutch Shell lost what is considered a precedent setting climate change case for oil companies. The Hague district court in the Netherlands ordered Shell…
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Energy GovernanceNews
June 9, 2021

Mbongiseni Buthelezi joins the Agora Energiewende Supervisory Board

Mbongiseni Buthelezi has joined the Supervisory Board of Agora Energiewende: a think tank funded by the European Climate Foundation and Stiftung Mercator that focuses on dialogue with energy policymakers. It…
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Energy GovernanceMultimediaNews
May 12, 2021

Watch | PARI uncovers scandal totaling billions of rand

In the interview with Newzroom Afrika, Tracy Ledger breaks down the incentives for municipalities to divert funds intended for free basic services. She discusses the imbalance in the conversation around…
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Energy GovernanceMultimediaNews
April 22, 2021

Listen | Tracy Ledger chats to YFM about Broken Promises report

On Thursday, 22 April 2021, Dr Tracy Ledger chatted to YFM about the main findings in her latest research report Broken Promises and what communities need to know about free…
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Energy GovernanceNewsPublicationsReportsWorking Papers
April 21, 2021

Broken Promises | New research from the EnergySociety programme

A new report on electricity access for low-income households by Tracy Ledger, Lead Researcher on the Energy and Society programme. Poverty has received scant attention from an energy perspective. This…
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Energy GovernancePublicationsWorking Papers
April 21, 2021

A Just Distribution: What is missing from the current narratives of a just transition?

by Tracy Ledger 'What is missing from the current narratives of a just transition? In our initial assessment, there are two key gaps in the current national just transition debate…
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Energy GovernanceMultimediaMultimediaNews
April 20, 2021

Listen | New research shows how municipalities divert funding intended for free basic electricity

Head of the Energy and Society programme, Tracy Ledger, speaks to Thabiso Tema on PowerFM in a revelatory discussion about how the failure to provide free basic electricity for poor…
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blogEnergy GovernanceNewsPublications
April 16, 2021

Community Brief | The Broken Promise of Affordable Energy For All

Download this Community Brief in the following languages:People who get enough electricity to meet their daily needs, at a price that they can afford to pay, have many benefits: They…
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Energy GovernanceNews
January 27, 2021

A Just Energy Transition Must Not Deepen Inequality

Smart Energy International, 23 January 2021 A new working paper by Dr Tracy Ledger, A Just Distribution, argues that: ‘A better understanding of the linkages between distribution and socioeconomic development…
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Energy GovernanceNewsOp EdPublications
January 15, 2021

Op Ed | A just energy transition must be developmental, pro-poor and not deepen inequality

by Tracy Ledger A better understanding of the linkages between electricity distribution and poverty is critical to a just transition. Otherwise, we run the very real risk of restructuring our…
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Energy GovernancePublicationsWorking Papers
January 15, 2021

A Just Distribution: What is missing from the current narratives of a just transition?

by Tracy Ledger 'What is missing from the current narratives of a just transition? In our initial assessment, there are two key gaps in the current national just transition debate…
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Energy GovernanceOp EdPublications
July 20, 2020

Another Reason Why Eskom is the Bull in the Fiscal China Shop

By Tracy Ledger   We have seen many headlines over the past two years highlighting the negative effects of Eskom on the national fiscus. Billions of rands have been allocated…
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Energy GovernanceFeaturedNewsOp Ed
April 16, 2020

Op Ed | SA Needs a Medupi Write-Off

By Dr Tracy Ledger There are growing global calls for a debt write-off for developing countries because of Covid-19. Eskom received a $3.75-billion loan from the World Bank in 2010,…
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Energy GovernanceFeaturedOp EdPublications
March 25, 2019

Op Ed | Not Knowing What The Problem Is, IS The Problem

Not knowing what the problem is, IS the problem Dr Tracy Ledger Daily Maverick, 22 March 2019 Eskom has hit a brick wall and, by all accounts, no one in…
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Energy GovernanceFeaturedOp EdPublications
March 9, 2019

Op Ed | Unbundling Eskom Will Reveal True ANC

Unbundling Eskom Will Reveal ANC’s True Nature Simba Lando, Thokozani Chilenga-Butao and Dr Tracy Ledger The Citizen, Saturday 9 March 2019 The mismanagement and corruption at Eskom has reached crisis…
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#AfterCaptureEnergy GovernanceFeaturedPublicationsReports
February 22, 2019

Why the Lights Went Out: Reform in the South African Energy Sector

By Tracy Ledger (van der Heijden), for the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice In 2019, Eskom's narrative is a cry of victimhood, laying blame…
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#AfterCaptureEnergy GovernancePSR RoundtablesState Reform
July 25, 2018

The Future of Energy and State-owned Companies in SA

In this fifth roundtable of the #AfterCapture Public Service Reform series, keynote speakers Catrina Godinho and Lauren Hermanus delivered a comprehensive and candid presentation on the role of state-owned enterprises…
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Energy GovernanceFeaturedGovernmentMediaOp Ed
January 22, 2017

Op-ed | Struggle to keep the lights on

It is not only the maladministration of municipalities – there are other contributing systemic factors connected to their failure to pay for the power they use...
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Energy GovernancePublicationsReportsState Reform
January 25, 2015

Hollowing out the local state: Managerialism and Skills in the Water Sector

In large parts of South Africa, the management of municipal water and sanitation is in crisis. There are regular media reports of interrupted water supply and dysfunctional sanitation systems. These…
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