We are a growing community uniting for a more prosperous future for all South Africans by catalysing support for safer, cleaner and cheaper energy where no one is left behind.
FOR LIFE, BEYOND FOSSIL FUELS
·
FOR LIFE, BEYOND FOSSIL FUELS ·
WElcome to FFSA
Welcome to Fossil Free South Africa! South Africans want climate action but lack deep understanding of the full impacts of fossil fuels and the opportunities of transition and transformation. Few South Africans understand the urgency of determined climate action. As the world teeters between the dying fossil fuel era and an era of climate chaos, South Africa remains in thrall to the “fossil fuels drive development” myth. A key African BRICS economy, SA has a big influence on other African countries and remains excessively fossil fuel-dependent. Few South Africans clearly link climate change to the fossil fuel industry or understand the risks climate change poses to our society and their savings. Despite strong climate policies and international commitments, South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Petroleum operates without restraint. Climate policies implemented without broad public support can backfire or be undermined, as we now see in the US or EU.
What do we want? A democratic energy system for South Africa.
An energy system that is:
Mostly renewable, community-led and owned
Human rights- and rule-of-law based
Science- and evidence-based
Able to provide greater economic equality and decentralisation
Able to build resilience
SA Constitution (Ch. 2, 24): All have the right: "to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being" "to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations"
We need to build climate leadership and challenge the social licence for fossil fuels to enable stronger support for a human-rights based just transition and energy democracy.
How are we trying to make that happen?
1. Mobilising citizen investors to demand
ethical financial services and hold asset manager,
big polluters, and banks to account
Many of us are investing in the biggest agents of climate change – fossil fuel companies. Our Future We Want campaign is trying to change that by engaging with citizens as investors and shareholders to use their personal investments, shares and voices as leverage to shift financial support away from fossil fuels and towards energy Democracy in South Africa. This is done through building public support for engagements with asset managers to provide fossil-fuel free investment options for the many who want them. We’ve already helped set up one low carbon fund in South Africa, and it’s performed well for three years.
2. Building affected-community support against
greenwashing and challenging fossil fuel advertising
as a proxy for challenging the industry’s social licence
The fossil fuel industry relies on PR and advertising for its continued social licence to operate. We are challenging this through our Fossil Ad Ban campaign which works towards municipal, regional and national bans on fossil fuel advertising, while growing grassroots awareness on the material impacts of fossil fuels and greenwashing. Our Clean Creatives South Africa campaign also asks agencies and creatives to pledge to cut ties with the fossil fuel industry – and now has over 1400 agencies and 2500 creatives who won’t take on work tied to fossil fuels.
Photograph by Tam Wilson (Itchy Digital)
3. Mobilising university students as climate leaders
to hold universities to account
We are building student and academic support for universities to lead publicly on climate action that supports a human-rights based Just Transition. What started out as a divestment movement that led the University of Cape Town to commit to stop investing in fossil fuels has grown into a broader campus climate movement of which divestment is only one part. We work closely with student organisations at the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University, and we’re reigniting our work at the University of the Western Cape, University of Johannesburg and the University of the Witwatersrand.
4. Developing resources to build public support
for climate action and a Just Transition to renewables
We create resources and strategic media to explain and share our vision. This includes:
Our Planet A Investment Guide that helps people make climate-responsible investment decisions.
Our Climate Reporting Guide, supporting journalists and communicators responsibly reporting on the climate crisis, which is updated annually.
We are also developing a living resource, Climate Hope, which aims to democratise information about the climate crisis and tackle climate misinformation, giving reputable, science-based evidence.
For more resources, check out our resources page here.
4. Empowering journalists and content creators
to responsibly report on the climate emergency
We have recently launched our Climate Media Lab to support South African journalists and influencers to produce more evidence-based stories on climate, with a focus on community newspaper and broadcast journalists. The core of the programme is the mentorship of our fellows by three highly experienced climate journalists. We also hold monthly seminars on climate issues and distribute a monthly newsletter for Climate Media Lab fellows and other journalists, called Climate Beat SA.
CONTACT
