Partnership for Action on Green Economy

South Africa National Academy on Green Economy

The Partnership for Action on Green Economy, in collaboration with the South African Department of Environmental Affairs, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the ILO Offices in Pretoria and Geneva and the International Training Centre of the ILO, implemented a National Academy on Green Economy in South Africa from 26 February to 2 March 2018.

News | 15 March 2018
Contact(s): greenjobs@ilo.org
Hosted by the Development Bank of Southern Africa at the Vulindlela Academy in Midrand, this 5-day capacity-building event brought together 100 participants from all nine provinces to share the latest thinking on South Africa’s green economy transition and contributed to address a fundamental question: how to achieve inclusive green economies in South Africa?

The Academy started with a High Level Panel Discussion to introduce participants to the key trends, policies and strategies that currently contribute to the promotion of an inclusive greener economy in South Africa, while offering them the opportunity to reflect on the findings and recommendations drawn from the Green Economy Inventory for South Africa (PAGE, 2017).

Other plenary sessions throughout the week unpacked the issues of mobilizing finance for sustainable development, enhancing skills and employment opportunities for youth, scaling up green industrial development and trade opportunities, and promoting partnerships and collaboration.

Dialogue and stakeholder engagement are required at every levels to allow all actors to understand and be part of the transformative change envisaged. In particular, the potential for Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs) to play a stronger role in the greening of South African economy was confirmed by the active participation of companies and private sector associations in the event and reiterated throughout sectoral in-depth learning sessions and action plans presented.

Among the follow-up proposed actions, a number of concrete initiatives stand out as having the potential to pave the way towards a countrywide locally-driven multi-stakeholder Green Economy platform, including:
  • the development of business support services specifically targeted to SMMEs in the renewable energy sector, through the coordinated support of research institutes, local governments, business associations and NGOs;
  • a countrywide capacity building initiative focused at the provincial-level on sustainable public procurement and greening municipal financing;
  • the consolidation of an Action Network that facilitates exchange of information and members’ involvement in on-going research, policy-advice and capacity building initiatives;
  • initiatives on sectoral and cross-sectoral projects such as regenerative and organic agriculture for food security and export and community engagement in sustainable waste management.
Study visit to The Waste Group (Pty) Ltd,
a waste management company established in 1986 and dealing with industrial and commercial waste markets in and around Pretoria.