As the pandemic magnifies the cracks in our broken economic systems, it’s also accelerating a reckoning about the damage natural resource extraction causes in both environmental and social terms. “South Africa needs a structural change in its dependency on coal,” our grantee, Saliem Fakir, African Climate Foundation, emphasizes. “The way to make that happen is to shift the mindset of the state.” There are two major opportunities to do so: through the Just Energy Transition Partnership (#JETP) agreement, which is designed to provide $8.5 billion in grants and affordable loans over the next five years to enable South Africa to retire its aging coal plants, construct cleaner energy sources, and support the millions of people living in coal-dependent regions who will need to quickly reimagine their lives; and the upcoming global climate conference in Egypt, #COP27, its first time held on the continent. For Ford grantee Claude Kabemba of Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW), the “just” in #JETP is about something much bigger than alternative energy. It’s about ensuring #CivilSociety has a say throughout the process. This is essential in a country where the unemployment rate already ranks among the highest in the world. It’s important to ensure the transition works for all, especially the 120,000 unionized mine and power-plant workers whose livelihoods are threatened. Melissa Fourie, executive director of the Ford-funded Centre for Environmental Rights and a sitting member of the President’s Climate Commission asks, “How do you prepare the community for that new normal? What are the measures, step-by-step, that must be taken, and where are the funds to support them?” The answer: transparency and access to information, so communities have a complete understanding of the impact of their choices and can fully participate in designing and implementing plans. If a "Just Transition" can help South Africa reimagine a new economy and evolve into a more just society, imagine the possibilities for the rest of the world. Learn more about how to take #ClimateAction as we #ReimagineRecovery, and the lessons it offers us to achieving #Agenda2030 this #UNGA and #ClimateWeekNYC