🌍 Reflections on 30 Years of Climate Governance in South Africa
📍 3 April 2025
It was a privilege to join colleagues at the “South Africa at 30 Years of Democracy” conference for a panel reflecting on "Coordination, Coherence, and Alignment in South Africa’s climate policy since 1994" at the University of Cape Town, UCT Law.
I was joined by esteemed colleagues, Mr Peter Lukey (Independent Consultant and Former Chief Directorate: DFFE); Dr Brian Khanyisa Mantlana (Presidential Climate Commission and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)); and Mr Zakhele Mdlalose (Chief Sector Expert: Rural Economy & Environment DPME). The panel was chaired by Britta Rennkamp (Snr Researcher, African Climate & Development Initiative).
In my contribution, I focused on the Constitutional foundations of climate protection — especially the power and promise of Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which provides everyone with the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being.
📌 Key takeaways from my talk:
✅ Section 24 is a hybrid right — combining first-, second-, and third-generation rights. It anchors both individual dignity and collective ecological justice.
✅ Section 24(a) imposes a negative obligation on the state to refrain from action that harms people’s health or well-being — including approving developments in flood-prone areas or ignoring air pollution from coal-fired plants.
✅ Section 24(b) places a positive duty on the state to act — to pass legislation, implement policy, and govern proactively for both present and future generations. It demands that climate governance be integrated, equitable, and intergenerational. This provision does NOT support reactive or technocratic responses to environmental harm — it compels proactive, forward-looking governance that is sensitive to both current vulnerabilities and future risks.
✅ Transformative constitutionalism has enabled courts to play an active role in climate governance and environmental protection. In cases like Thabametsi, Deadly Air, and Sustaining the Wild Coast, the judiciary has stepped in to enforce climate duties where the executive has failed; and in the absence of framework legislation for Climate Change.
✅ Challenges remain: governance is still fragmented; municipalities lack capacity; and procedural justice is often overlooked in decision-making — especially for Indigenous and marginalised communities.
As South Africa confronts climate shocks, inequality, and a complex energy transition, the Constitution is not just a legal framework — it’s a governance imperative and a moral compass. We must ensure that law becomes a vehicle for climate justice, accountability, and systemic change.
🔗 #ClimateGovernance #EnvironmentalLaw #SouthAfricaAt30 #ConstitutionalLaw #ClimateJustice #TransformativeConstitutionalism #JustTransition #Section24 #UCT #GlobalClimateLawCentre
