Contributors: Liyema Mnikina and Ima Breakfast, Grade 10 (Walmer High School)
As South Africa embarks on a transition to a low-carbon economy that is socially and economically just, the youth of Walmer High School in Gqeberha contextualise the benefits of a Just Energy Transition (JET) for their community, province and future.
JET in the Eastern Cape, and South Africa at large, entails inclusive energy sources, prioritising social inclusivity and job creation.
Liyema Mnikina in Grade 10 at Walmer High School explains her understanding of a JET to be the shift from the generation of energy from coal to cleaner energy that also takes into account social and economic factors.
It is based on the idea that the transition to a diversified energy system should not leave anyone behind.
A JET stands to create many opportunities for social benefit, as it could help alleviate energy poverty, bringing affordable and clean energy to lower income communities like Walmer Township.
Liyema adds, “JET will particularly help those who were historically left out of the existing electricity grid, especially women and child-headed households. This will be a huge gain because it will eradicate dependency and provide self-resilience in communities while increasing energy security.”
In addition to this, Ima Breakfast of Walmer High School (Grade 10) expresses the socio-economic benefits of a JET, “The transition to renewable energy should be seen as an opportunity for the economic empowerment of the youth and women, especially in the light of South Africa’s high unemployment rate and the wide gender economic gap. It is an opportunity to create an inclusive transition to renewable energy that empowers women and youth to enter into the energy sector and access jobs and skills to the advancement of the green economy.”
“I would like to see a JET providing new jobs, social justice and poverty eradication for the youth, and the whole of Walmer Township. The low carbon transition should be fair and inclusive and should create decent work opportunities, leaving no one behind” – Ima Breakfast.
The climate champ reiterates how youth in the province stand to benefit and says, “The shift to renewable energy would provide an opportunity to upskill the youth of Walmer with skills that are required in new industries, like the green tech sector, which are fundamental in the transition to renewable energy so that they can take up emerging opportunities in the renewable sector. Similarly, the transition would offer an opportunity for the existing workers to be re-skilled, upskilled.”
The renewable energy conversation is typically dominated by industry, government and academia, whilst communities, particularly women and youth, are not always adequately included in the national discussion on energy policy. Through this initiative the SA Climate Change Champs capacitates the youth to be aware of the opportunities that exist within the renewable energy sector, and how communities can benefit.
These youths represent the SA Climate Champs, a project co-funded by the European Union, implemented in partnership with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, and presented by GreenCape.
