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Enabling the Just Energy Transition in South Africa
South Africa's recently published Just Transition Framework (2022) signalled a critical juncture for the country's heretofore separate energy decarbonisation and developmental agendas. However, despite the win-win framing of the South African just energy transition, evidence suggests that it may do...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Political Studies
2024
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| _version_ | 1867613302137290752 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Wolf, Victoria |
| author2 | Ndlovu, Alecia |
| author_browse | Ndlovu, Alecia Wolf, Victoria |
| author_facet | Ndlovu, Alecia Wolf, Victoria |
| author_sort | Wolf, Victoria |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | South Africa's recently published Just Transition Framework (2022) signalled a critical juncture for the country's heretofore separate energy decarbonisation and developmental agendas. However, despite the win-win framing of the South African just energy transition, evidence suggests that it may do little to mitigate socio-economic and environmental inequality, necessitating new approaches to energy scholarship and policy planning. To date, the traditional principle of distributive justice (i.e. ensuring equitable access to energy) has been at the forefront of South Africa's approach to energy planning given the country's highly unequal socio-economic profile. Restorative energy justice, however, is increasingly being recognised across just energy transition research and practice as a means to both address and redress systemic inequalities within energy systems and importantly, to identify practical policy pathways – particularly in the varied and unique contexts of the Global South. In this light, this study provides a critical review of the state of the South African just energy transition with a focus on the potential of restorative energy justice in particular to enhance socio-economic inclusion, as opposed to the retributive or corrective approaches of distributive and procedural justice (McCauley and Heffron, 2017:2). By examining the South African just energy transition across market, social/environmental, and public/political dimensions, this study finds that while the just energy transition is distinctly an integrative framework, restorative energy justice is inadequately represented within the country's energy political economy. Ultimately, it is suggested that restorative policy instruments such as local content and ownership requirements, environmental impact assessments, environmental tax and energy financial reserve obligations serve as valuable conceptual bridges between scholarship and practice. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40195 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:59.204Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Department of Political Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Political Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40195 Enabling the Just Energy Transition in South Africa Wolf, Victoria Ndlovu, Alecia International Relations South Africa's recently published Just Transition Framework (2022) signalled a critical juncture for the country's heretofore separate energy decarbonisation and developmental agendas. However, despite the win-win framing of the South African just energy transition, evidence suggests that it may do little to mitigate socio-economic and environmental inequality, necessitating new approaches to energy scholarship and policy planning. To date, the traditional principle of distributive justice (i.e. ensuring equitable access to energy) has been at the forefront of South Africa's approach to energy planning given the country's highly unequal socio-economic profile. Restorative energy justice, however, is increasingly being recognised across just energy transition research and practice as a means to both address and redress systemic inequalities within energy systems and importantly, to identify practical policy pathways – particularly in the varied and unique contexts of the Global South. In this light, this study provides a critical review of the state of the South African just energy transition with a focus on the potential of restorative energy justice in particular to enhance socio-economic inclusion, as opposed to the retributive or corrective approaches of distributive and procedural justice (McCauley and Heffron, 2017:2). By examining the South African just energy transition across market, social/environmental, and public/political dimensions, this study finds that while the just energy transition is distinctly an integrative framework, restorative energy justice is inadequately represented within the country's energy political economy. Ultimately, it is suggested that restorative policy instruments such as local content and ownership requirements, environmental impact assessments, environmental tax and energy financial reserve obligations serve as valuable conceptual bridges between scholarship and practice. 2024-07-02T10:12:18Z 2024-07-02T10:12:18Z 2023 2024-06-06T13:52:49Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40195 eng application/pdf Department of Political Studies Faculty of Humanities |
| spellingShingle | International Relations Wolf, Victoria Enabling the Just Energy Transition in South Africa |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Enabling the Just Energy Transition in South Africa |
| title_full | Enabling the Just Energy Transition in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Enabling the Just Energy Transition in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enabling the Just Energy Transition in South Africa |
| title_short | Enabling the Just Energy Transition in South Africa |
| title_sort | enabling the just energy transition in south africa |
| topic | International Relations |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40195 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wolfvictoria enablingthejustenergytransitioninsouthafrica |