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A just transition towards sustainable development: A legal analysis of the transition to a low-carbon economy in the South African mining industry in the context of sustainable development.

Section 100 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA) mandates the Broad-Based Socio-economic Empowerment Charter for the Mining and Minerals Industry (the Mining Charter) to outline how the MPRDA's objectives of redressing historical social and economic inequities ca...

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Main Author: Zondo, Nondumiso
Other Authors: Mostert, Hanri
Format: Thesis
Language:English
English
Published: Department of Private Law 2025
Subjects:
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access_status_str Open Access
author Zondo, Nondumiso
author2 Mostert, Hanri
author_browse Mostert, Hanri
Zondo, Nondumiso
author_facet Mostert, Hanri
Zondo, Nondumiso
author_sort Zondo, Nondumiso
collection Thesis
description Section 100 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA) mandates the Broad-Based Socio-economic Empowerment Charter for the Mining and Minerals Industry (the Mining Charter) to outline how the MPRDA's objectives of redressing historical social and economic inequities can be met. However, the MPRDA does not require that environmental protection be included as one of the fundamental concerns to be addressed by the Mining Charter. Thus, the resulting Mining Charter does not establish a framework for achieving environmental objectives. Environmental justice redresses the injustices of the past that are associated with the inequality that resulted from economic growth which caused environmental degradation and pollution, as well as the distorted access to and benefits from the extraction and use of natural resources. This leads us to the central question of this study: Can the Mining Charter do more to promote sustainable development in the mining industry in the context of an energy transition? Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 declares environmental justice as a national priority, encouraging the mainstreaming of environmental protection measures into legislation to promote sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting socioeconomic development. This research argues that the lack of environmental mandate in the Mining Charter is a point of concern for its effectiveness in addressing 'historical social and economic inequalities'. This research offers insight into the challenges presented by not incorporating climate change and environmental justice into regulations, which ignores a host of social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities that will be brought about by climate change, especially on the historically disadvantaged whom it claims it aims to redress. This research is premised on the conviction that social and economic justice cannot be achieved without environmental and climate justice
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language English
eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:48:27.827Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
publisher Department of Private Law
publisherStr Department of Private Law
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41190 A just transition towards sustainable development: A legal analysis of the transition to a low-carbon economy in the South African mining industry in the context of sustainable development. Zondo, Nondumiso Mostert, Hanri Cramer, Richard Henry Heyns, Anri Minerals Petroleum extraction and use Section 100 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA) mandates the Broad-Based Socio-economic Empowerment Charter for the Mining and Minerals Industry (the Mining Charter) to outline how the MPRDA's objectives of redressing historical social and economic inequities can be met. However, the MPRDA does not require that environmental protection be included as one of the fundamental concerns to be addressed by the Mining Charter. Thus, the resulting Mining Charter does not establish a framework for achieving environmental objectives. Environmental justice redresses the injustices of the past that are associated with the inequality that resulted from economic growth which caused environmental degradation and pollution, as well as the distorted access to and benefits from the extraction and use of natural resources. This leads us to the central question of this study: Can the Mining Charter do more to promote sustainable development in the mining industry in the context of an energy transition? Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 declares environmental justice as a national priority, encouraging the mainstreaming of environmental protection measures into legislation to promote sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting socioeconomic development. This research argues that the lack of environmental mandate in the Mining Charter is a point of concern for its effectiveness in addressing 'historical social and economic inequalities'. This research offers insight into the challenges presented by not incorporating climate change and environmental justice into regulations, which ignores a host of social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities that will be brought about by climate change, especially on the historically disadvantaged whom it claims it aims to redress. This research is premised on the conviction that social and economic justice cannot be achieved without environmental and climate justice 2025-03-17T08:31:02Z 2025-03-17T08:31:02Z 2024 2025-03-17T08:17:17Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters LLM in the Law of Mineral and Petroleum Extraction and Use http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41190 en eng application/pdf Department of Private Law Faculty of Law University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Minerals
Petroleum extraction and use
Zondo, Nondumiso
A just transition towards sustainable development: A legal analysis of the transition to a low-carbon economy in the South African mining industry in the context of sustainable development.
thesis_degree_str Master's
title A just transition towards sustainable development: A legal analysis of the transition to a low-carbon economy in the South African mining industry in the context of sustainable development.
title_full A just transition towards sustainable development: A legal analysis of the transition to a low-carbon economy in the South African mining industry in the context of sustainable development.
title_fullStr A just transition towards sustainable development: A legal analysis of the transition to a low-carbon economy in the South African mining industry in the context of sustainable development.
title_full_unstemmed A just transition towards sustainable development: A legal analysis of the transition to a low-carbon economy in the South African mining industry in the context of sustainable development.
title_short A just transition towards sustainable development: A legal analysis of the transition to a low-carbon economy in the South African mining industry in the context of sustainable development.
title_sort just transition towards sustainable development a legal analysis of the transition to a low carbon economy in the south african mining industry in the context of sustainable development
topic Minerals
Petroleum extraction and use
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41190
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