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The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa
The threat of climate change and the consequent need for renewable energy development is an issue of growing importance across the world. While the environmental benefits of renewable energy are commonly documented and accepted, the economic impact of renewables on job growth is less commonly agreed...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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School of Economics
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613198845214720 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Van der Westhuizen, Johann Vincent |
| author2 | Karimu, Amin |
| author_browse | Karimu, Amin Van der Westhuizen, Johann Vincent |
| author_facet | Karimu, Amin Van der Westhuizen, Johann Vincent |
| author_sort | Van der Westhuizen, Johann Vincent |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The threat of climate change and the consequent need for renewable energy development is an issue of growing importance across the world. While the environmental benefits of renewable energy are commonly documented and accepted, the economic impact of renewables on job growth is less commonly agreed upon. For South Africa in particular, the nature of this impact is crucial to understand since the country suffers from both unsustainable carbon emissions and unemployment rates. This study investigates the impact of renewable energy consumption on total employment in South Africa over the period 1970-2021. The autoregressive distributed lag model was employed to test the long-run and short-run impacts of renewable energy consumption on employment in a multivariate framework including other determinants of labour demand. Our findings indicate that renewable energy consumption does not have any significant statistical impact on total employment. Additionally, our findings indicate the importance of economic growth, human capital levels, foreign direct investment, energy consumption and international trade in determining job growth. Therefore, the study advocates for further research into the determinants of labour demand in South Africa, and the active creation of a positive relationship between renewable energy and job growth given the current low carbon energy transition that is taking place in South Africa. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/43219 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:20.328Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | School of Economics |
| publisherStr | School of Economics |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/43219 The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa Van der Westhuizen, Johann Vincent Karimu, Amin renewable energy South Africa employment The threat of climate change and the consequent need for renewable energy development is an issue of growing importance across the world. While the environmental benefits of renewable energy are commonly documented and accepted, the economic impact of renewables on job growth is less commonly agreed upon. For South Africa in particular, the nature of this impact is crucial to understand since the country suffers from both unsustainable carbon emissions and unemployment rates. This study investigates the impact of renewable energy consumption on total employment in South Africa over the period 1970-2021. The autoregressive distributed lag model was employed to test the long-run and short-run impacts of renewable energy consumption on employment in a multivariate framework including other determinants of labour demand. Our findings indicate that renewable energy consumption does not have any significant statistical impact on total employment. Additionally, our findings indicate the importance of economic growth, human capital levels, foreign direct investment, energy consumption and international trade in determining job growth. Therefore, the study advocates for further research into the determinants of labour demand in South Africa, and the active creation of a positive relationship between renewable energy and job growth given the current low carbon energy transition that is taking place in South Africa. 2026-05-12T10:10:26Z 2026-05-12T10:10:26Z 2022 2026-05-12T09:59:47Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters Masters http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43219 en eng application/pdf School of Economics Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | renewable energy South Africa employment Van der Westhuizen, Johann Vincent The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa |
| title_full | The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa |
| title_short | The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa |
| title_sort | impact of renewable energy on job growth in south africa |
| topic | renewable energy South Africa employment |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43219 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vanderwesthuizenjohannvincent theimpactofrenewableenergyonjobgrowthinsouthafrica AT vanderwesthuizenjohannvincent impactofrenewableenergyonjobgrowthinsouthafrica |