JUST SA

Goodbye 2024 – Happy Holidays! As we wrap up the year of impactful work in the fight against climate change, we want to take a moment to express our gratitude to our partners, collaborators, and the entire climate community. Together, we've made great strides towards a more sustainable future, but there is still much to be done. This holiday season, let's celebrate the collective efforts that are driving change and making a difference around the world. 🌱✨ We look forward to continuing our work in 2025, with renewed energy, commitment, and collaboration. May the new year bring more opportunities to innovate, inspire, and accelerate climate action. From the GIZ Climate Cluster in South Africa, we wish you all a peaceful, joyful holiday season and a prosperous, sustainable New Year! 🌍💚 #HappyHolidays #GIZ #GIZSouthAfrica #ClimateAction #NewYear GIZ South Africa, Lesotho & eSwatini Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 (𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗦𝗔)  The Just Transition to a Decarbonised Economy for South Africa ⭐ (JUST SA) program supports the implementation of pathways towards an environmentally #sustainable, #climatechangeresilient, #lowcarboneconomy and #justsociety.  JUST SA, as one of three bilateral climate action projects, is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and in partnership with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE). It is implemented by a consortium comprised of GIZ South Africa, Lesotho & eSwatini, TIPS (NPC), the National Business Initiative (NBI), the World Wildlife Fund South Africa (WWF), and in close collaboration with the Mpumalanga Green Cluster Agency (MGCA), the Just Energy Transition Project Management Unit (JET PMU) and the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) and others. 💡JUST SA has three approaches:   🌍At the national level, the project supports key national stakeholders and the implementation of key policy documents like the Just Transition Framework as well as dialogue for and information sharing to a multi-level stakeholder group, ensuring an inclusive and results-oriented process.  🗾At regional level, the project capacitates and assists provincial stakeholders in Mpumalanga like the MGCA in formulating and implementing concrete and sustainable alternative developmental pathways for a diversified regional economy and supports targeted SMMEs to unlock their growth potential for just transition and receive access to finance.  🏡At the local level, the project pilots and scales activities in selected municipalities of Mpumalanga, provides bottom-up approaches to community development and capacity building to municipalities in the JET as well as concrete training and coaching of small businesses.  Furthermore, environmental risks of mine closure and rehabilitation are addressed with a focus on mine water treatment through research, policy implementation and community engagement. Business opportunities on land to be rehabilitated are being explored and supported and lessons learnt fed back into the dialogue process . To read more on JUST SA and stay up to date with their news, follow them at JUST SA 

The Climate Support Programme (CSP4) is looking for a Team (3 experts) to facilitate a hybrid workshop at the end of March 2025 in Gauteng. Interested Service Providers should reach out by Friday December 13th to iki.interface.southafrica@giz.de with their contact details to be provided with more information.   #CallForServiceProviders #SubmitYourInterest #ProposalsWanted #SubmitNow #OpenCall #GIZ #IKISouthAfrica #IKI #climateaction 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗜𝗭 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗜𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 The #GIZ operates as a global service provider in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education work, and through this work, we are dedicated to shaping a future worth living around. GIZ has over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment promotion, energy and the environment, and peace and security. Its objective is to improve people’s living conditions on a sustainable basis. The Climate Change portfolio in South Africa is deeply rooted in international agreements and understanding local needs and exploring the interlinkages from climate change to climate change action in different sectors. South Africa plays an important role in international climate policy and in the Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. South Africa has a strong #climatechange policy, an updated and ambitious NDC, a recently enacted Climate Change Act, a national adaptation and a low-emission development strategy. The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) was agreed at COP26 in 2021 by South Africa with an international Partners Group including Germany. The partnership contributes to the wider South African Just Energy Transition (JET) initiative, driven by the South African Government to which also the Climate Cluster contributes with some of its key projects.   GIZ supports the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) as well as many other partners in the areas of climate change #mitigation, #adaptation as well #justtransition, #biodiversity, #water and #wastewatermanagement. These areas form part of the Climate Cluster team’s work and also include cross-cutting topics such as: #climateresilience; #gendermainstreaming; #youthempowerment, #circulareconomy and #digitalisation. The Climate Cluster vision is to collaboratively shape a climate resilient, just and sustainable future for South Africa, through its mission of implementing transformative #climateaction across the various projects within its portfolio. The Climate Cluster of GIZ South Africa, Lesotho and eSwatini supports its partners through three bilateral, two regional and currently nine global projects. We will introduce these over the coming weeks! -------- The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has been working in South Africa since 1995. A country office opened in Pretoria in 1996. GIZ’s work in South Africa is carried out primarily on behalf of the German Development Ministry (BMZ). The core areas of cooperation are: - Peaceful and inclusive societies  - Economic development, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and employment  - Climate and energy    Connect with the GIZ South Africa, Lesotho & eSwatini. https://lnkd.in/ey_SyTDR #climatechange #climateaction #GIZClimateCluster

💡 How can we convert #coal waste into green construction materials? Just ask Prudence Simelane, whose company SAMANJALO uses geopolymer technology to repurpose fly ash—a by-product of coal-fired power plants—into eco-friendly building materials like cement, bricks, and pavers. Across South Africa's coal-dependent #Mpumalanga region, mountains of fly ash dot the landscape. By making use of this abundant waste product, #SAMANJALO contributes to a cleaner environment and creates jobs for local young people away from the mines. Such innovative #SMMEs play a vital role in the economic diversification of coal regions like Mpumalanga. As part of IKI JET's capacity-building study tour, stakeholders from global coal regions had the chance to learn directly from South African entrepreneurs like Prudence. Stay tuned for more insights and learnings—coming soon! 🎥 Stay in the loop by subscribing to our newsletter 👉 https://lnkd.in/eD8CU-y8 🎬 Videography by Damien Schumann Photography #JustTransition #CFPP #CoalPhaseOut #JustEnergyTransition #FlyAsh #SouthAfrica #JUSTSA #IKIJET Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH JUST SA Mpumalanga Green Cluster Agency Indalo Inclusive South Africa NPC The Innovations Regions for a Just Energy Transition project is jointly funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) under the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) for the Just Energy Transition in Coal Regions Interregional Platform (JET-CR).

🌾 Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (#SMMEs) are a vital part of South Africa’s #JustTransition. Deep in coal-rich Mpumalanga, where soil is contaminated by decades of mining pollution, growing crops is a challenge for local communities. At Mkhondo Agri-Hub, Matthews Hlabane is tackling this issue by rehabilitating agricultural land to produce food and create jobs for workers away from the coal and steel industry. The former union activist currently employs 30 full-time staff members and another 30-40 temporary workers on his farm to cultivate vegetables and rear pigs, chickens and goats. The harvest is then sold back to the local community at low cost.🌽 Examples of economic diversification like this have brought IKI JET stakeholders from coal regions around the world to #Mpumalanga to learn from their South African peers as part of a capacity-building study tour. On the ground, through a series of site visits and dialogues, international visitors from trade unions, civil society, coal companies, the renewable energy sector, and regional and national governments across Asia, South America and South Africa itself have had the chance to ask questions, exchange ideas and collect insights to inspire their own work towards a just transition in their respective #coal regions. 🎥 Stay tuned for more learnings from South Africa’s just energy transition and highlights from the #IKIJET study tour! 📬 Subscribe to our newsletter for updates 👉 https://lnkd.in/eD8CU-y8 Photos by Jessica Meniere #JustEnergyTransition #GIZ #Indalo #ForOurPlanet #GreenTransition #GreenDiplomacyWeeksSA Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Indalo Inclusive South Africa NPCEU Environment and Climate European External Action Service The Innovations Regions for a Just Energy Transition project is jointly funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) under the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) for the Just Energy Transition in Coal Regions Interregional Platform (JET-CR).

🙌 It's a wrap! A truly fantastic two days of learning here in #SouthAfrica for the 2024 International Forum for Coal Regions in Transition.🌍 Such great energy and collaborative spirit in the room as over 100 #JustTransition experts gathered in Pretoria (with many more tuning in online) to listen—truly listen—to each other's insights. We learned so much from our South African hosts and international visitors about navigating a transition away from #coal, and the importance of community consultation, economic diversification, and state-led solutions for a just transition. 🤝 Outside formal sessions, valuable peer-to-peer partnerships formed between stakeholders from South America, Asia, Africa and Europe, with meaningful dialogue reflecting all sides of the just transition conversation. 🎥 Stay tuned for video highlights, interviews, presentations and recordings—coming soon on the Just Energy Transition in Coal Regions Knowledge Hub 👉 https://lnkd.in/exfVV5z6 Photos by Jessica Meniere #JustEnergyTransition #GIZ #JUSTSA #ForOurPlanet #GreenTransition #GreenDiplomacyWeeksSA Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH JUST SA EU Environment and Climate European External Action Service The Innovations Regions for a Just Energy Transition project is jointly funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) under the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) for the Just Energy Transition in Coal Regions Interregional Platform (JET-CR).

The 16 enterprises that underwent training through Indalo Inclusive South Africa NPC’s New Venture Creation (NVC) programme were awarded certificates of participation. The NVC training provided participants practical tools such as various techniques, frameworks, and methodologies to help them with the skills needed to start and manage a new business, and an accreditation certificate from Services SETA. This programme which is funded by GIZ South Africa, Lesotho & eSwatini and supported by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and DARDLEA Mpumalanga is part of the Sector Job Resilience Plan, and seeks to empower communities in the local municipalities of eMalahleni, Steve Tshwete, Govan Mbeki, and Msukaligwa with essential entrepreneurial skills to develop, operate and scale green and inclusive business models. Eight businesses will receive grant funding to further their business growth at an awards ceremony as part of the IKI JET capacity building study tour in collaboration with JUST SA.

📢 And we’re off—join us online now! The 2024 International Forum for Coal Regions in Transition is underway in #Pretoria, South Africa, where 100 changemakers from coal regions across the world have gathered to exchange knowledge on achieving a #JustTransition to clean energy. The event kicked off with keynote speeches from Samuel Mabena of the South African national government, Duduzile Sibiya of the Mpumalanga provincial government and IKI JET director Philipp Schattenmann. Tune in for sessions on Chile’s Transmission Lineworkers Initiative, just transition and the #labour movement in South Africa, smart city development in Thailand, and a Mongolian sand battery pilot project, among others. Watch live now 👉 https://lnkd.in/eiNvjidY Stay tuned for key takeaways, presentations and recordings on the Just Energy Transition in Coal Regions Knowledge Hub 👉 https://lnkd.in/exfVV5z6 #SouthAfrica #JustEnergyTransition #GIZ #JUSTSA #ForOurPlanet, #GreenTransition #GreenDiplomacyWeeksSA Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH EU Environment and Climate European External Action Service JUST SA The Innovations Regions for a Just Energy Transition project is jointly funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) under the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) for the Just Energy Transition in Coal Regions Interregional Platform (JET-CR).

Don’t miss this year’s International Forum for Coal Regions in Transition being hosted in collaboration with JUST SA. It is taking place in-person (in Pretoria) and online on 14 to 15 October. The Forum will bring together key actors from coal regions all over the world to share insights, best practices and discuss challenges in just energy transitions and how to best address them. Register here: https://lnkd.in/dGrpvdjx GIZ South Africa, Lesotho & eSwatini Just Energy Transition in Coal Regions Knowledge Hub