The social shaping of nuclear energy technology in South Africa

This paper analyses the question why the South African government intends to procure nuclear energy technology, despite affordable and accessible fossil and renewable energy alternatives. We analyse the social shaping of nuclear energy technology based on the statements of political actors in the public media. We combine a discourse network analysis with qualitative analysis to establish the coalitions in support and opposition of the programme. The central arguments in the debate are cost, safety, job creation, the appropriateness of nuclear energy, emissions reductions, transparency, risks for corruption, and geopolitical influences. The analysis concludes that the nuclear programme is not primarily about generating electricity, as it creates tangible benefits for the coalition of supporters

Sustainable development planning in South Africa: a case of over-strategizing?

This paper serves as a background document for a research project that informs sustainable development planning through the analysis of developmental impacts of mitigation action

Breaking the Status Quo? - An Analysis of Sustainability Managers' Change Efforts

Msc in ManagementSocietal expectations towards corporations to include social, environmental and ethical considerations have grown in importance, and corporations largely depend on so-called sustainability managers to help them meet these expectations. This thesis provides one of the first studies into how sustainability managers work and asks: how do sustainability managers work to change their organisation for a more sustainable future? Through interviews with 18 senior sustainability managers and an analysis of the empirical findings through institutional entrepreneurship and institutional logics theory, this study identifies sustainability managers as individual actors who adopt strategic approaches and work practices similar to institutional entrepreneurs and shows their efforts to institutionalise sustainability by hybridising it with the perceived dominant market logic and by establishing legitimacy. The thesis also sheds light on the institutional complexity faced by sustainability managers and uncovers previously unrecognised activities, such as building strong business knowledge to operate as a cross-functional facilitator, seeking compromise, and striving for small successes

drivers and barriers to institutional change

The assumption that there will be trade-offs between climate change mitigation measures and poverty reduction measures goes largely unchallenged in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This paper analyses how these trade-offs unfold at the national level in South Africa. South Africa is a middle income country that exemplifies the challenge of accommodating efforts for emissions reductions and poverty reduction at the same time. The paper analyses the trade-offs and distributional conflicts that drive and hinder institutional change in the current climate policy regime. The analysis focuses on three regulatory regimes in climate change: the climate change response white paper, the carbon tax and the renewable energy program. A combination of interview-based qualitative research and an innovative discourse network analysis reveals the discourse between competing coalitions supporting and opposing specific interventions. We find in the case of South Africa that the lack of economic growth over the last few years has kept emissions levels relatively low and consequently postponed the hard trade-offs between climate change mitigation and poverty reduction. Trade-offs appear in the political discourse, especially around the carbon tax and carbon budgets. Yet, distributional conflicts determine both drivers and barriers to institutional change. Powerful coalitions opposing the carbon tax managed to push the government into postponing the implementation of the tax. We conclude that win-win situations are possible, and that the crux lies in the implementation. A carbon tax proposal has made provisions for off-setting emissions through investment in clean technologies in low income communities. The renewable energy program created large foreign investment influx into the country, which is partially spent on community development. The main challenge in creating win-win situations is overcoming the distributional conflicts. Lack of policy coordination, alignment and clarity of the legal frameworks create severe barriers to institutional change

South African approaches to MRV of mitigation actions: the case of installing solar water heaters

How to measure, report and verify (MRV) mitigation actions? This question calls growing attention in the international negotiations on climate change, because industrialized countries agreed to support developing countries in their efforts of reducing emissions through so-called ‘nationally appropriate mitigation actions’ (NAMAs). In the process of defining those NAMAs, the question stands out how the emission reductions can be verified. This case study illustrates the way ‘MRV’ works in the case of solar water heating. South Africa has no officially registered NAMAs in the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) yet. Therefore, we chose one of the most advanced ‘mitigation action’, which is the roll out program for solar water heating, which is a key energy efficiency program. We find that the incentive system matters for collecting data for MRV. The responsible agency for the incentive needs to provide for data collection. The process becomes easier if previsions for MRV are already made in the stage of designing the policy. We recommend to design the MRV system of mitigation based on existing structures, such as the measurement and verification (M&V) standards, which apply to the monitor efficiency programs. We further recommend to make the data collection and management transparent, and to designate an independent, cross-sectorial agency to support the government in the data management and quality control, to ensure coherent and reliable reporting