Just Transition Project

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THAT’S MINE!

WOMEN LEAD THE TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABLE MINING IN SOUTH AFRICA

Communities, particularly women, are confronted every day with the effects of climate change caused by human activities. High emissions of greenhouse gases are causing the global temperature to rise faster than ever. Mining and the extraction and use of fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil have resulted in social and economic progress from many countries. The downside is that it is also the most significant driver of climate change, and it is linked to many violations of human rights and damage to the environment.

The urgency to act against climate change resulted in the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015. In this it was agreed to tackle global warming worldwide. The transition to green and more sustainable sources of energy is one of the solutions to the current climate emergency.

About Macua

It is very important that solutions for an energy transition do not just focus on carbon emissions, but also that human rights are respected. As long as there are communities that experience negative effects from the extraction of resources, the end-product cannot be considered sustainable.

The current energy transition has exposed new inequalities around the globe. The rising demand for minerals and metals required for the transition is leading to new or more serious violations of human rights and environmental damage that impact on local communities worldwide. The people who are hardest hit are women. That is why MACUA and WAMUA are striving for a true feminist, just and green transition. This transition involves a shift from a dependence on exploitation and environmentally harmful effects by the extractive industries to alternatives that work for people and the environment.

 To be genuinely just, the transition must address the inequalities and not make them worse; transform systems to work for people, nature and climate; ensure inclusivity and participation; and develop broad policy frameworks. This means a transition that not only contributes to the sustainability of the environment and the planet, but that also takes account of social justice, the protection of women’s rights and human rights, and local ownership of the process.

This project seeks to ensure women in communities affected by mining across South Africa, particularly minerals mined and required for the energy transition, are empowered to know their rights, and can exercise these to challenge power from a household to state level, insisting on their full participation in decision-making within the minerals and energy sector.

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The project aims to:

  • Build the agency of women in communities, where manganese, copper, graphite, nickel, coal, and platinum group minerals are mined, to not only occupy existing spaces of influence but create alternative, inclusive and nuanced expressions of leadership.
  • Support, WAMUA to strengthen its mass community civic organization, ensuring that the movement is well-organised, democratically managed, struggles are connected across geographies, and programmes are implemented to unite local communities in national struggles.
  • Facilitate community led advocacy with policy makers in the global North and South based on grass roots research and evidence.
  • Lobby and advocate for a gendered Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence and environmental safeguards in extractives and energy supply chains.
  • Campaign and raise awareness on human rights violations in in extractives and energy supply chains

The project will support Branches to conduct social audits which will monitor and survey the impacts of mining, particularly minerals required for the energy transition, on the rights of marginalised communities specifically women.

Further the project will support branches of WAMUA to undergo an intensive Women’s Right Training Curriculum, support organizational development and building understanding of legislation, policies and laws which govern the mineral resources and energy sector.

Along with building awareness at the local level the WAMUA branches will be supported to mobilise the local community around holding duty bearers to account for harmful practises.

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