Africa: Bringing Independent Power Producers Into the Conversation

1 July 2024
Democracy Works (Johannesburg)
press release By Mira Dutschke

Democracy Works Foundation is excited to welcome INSPIRE as a co-implementation partner to the "Fostering Inclusive Growth through Climate Change Champions project". Co-funded by the European Union, the project seeks to build partnerships between local governments, civil society organisations and Independent Power Producers. In the final phase of the work, INSPIRE and its partners KD Strategies aim to deepen the understanding of public and private development priorities can be integrated with community-driven climate action.

The overarching aim of the implementation partnership is to bring Independent Power Producers into the conversation. As key climate change mitigation agents, their social economic development spend incentives overlap with many key development objectives of local government and the Civil Society sector. CSOs, who are often providing essential services, that are meant to be provided by sub-national government, are already adapting and building resilience to a changing climate. Mitigation-related funded being used to support community-driven climate adaptation and resilience building is in line with the Just Transition. By supporting CSOs to continue their work of essential protecting the rights of people living in the most vulnerable sectors of communities in a changing climate is a key method South Africa has to ensure that no one is left behind in the transition away from fossil fuels.

Context

Since March 2019 FIGCCC has worked with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and local governments from 4 municipalities in the Northern and Western Cape Provinces. The Climate Justice Action Network is a group of CSOs that formed as a result of the project, who were previously not engaged in climate or environment-related work. Their mission is to advocate for the constituencies they represent to be considered in climate change related decision-making. The project has also unpacked municipal climate change related planning mandates with municipalities. In the Witzenberg municipality, this resulted in the co-creation of climate change Needs Assessments and Response Plans.

Partnership objectives

Through stakeholder and desktop-based research the team led by INSPIRE will explore:

Integration potential

  • Focussed on bridging communication blockages between IPP's and communities, the research will explore ways to deepen the integration of community driven climate change related action with the development priorities of public and private sector decision makers.

Engagement and coordination

  • The research explores how engagement and coordination opportunities between the private, public and civil society sectors around community driving climate change actions can be improved. This involves facilitating firstly the integration of development priorities of IPPs (and other private sector players), local governments, and CSOs and supporting advocacy around the integration of climate change considerations into those developmental priorities.

Closing Event

  • DWF with INSPIRE and other key partners will host an event to workshop the findings and provide networking space for representatives from local government, civil society and the private sector. This will mark the end of the Fostering Inclusive Climate Change project and an opportunity to explore potential future collaboration.

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