Profiling multidimensional climate-related vulnerability in South Africa

Muna Shifa, Murray Leibbrandt, David Gordon.
TSITICA Project Working Paper no. 2, June 2023.
Published by ARUA Centre of Excellence in Climate Change and Development & African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research.

The authors use survey data from the National Income Dynamics Study and the Community Survey to examine inequalities and trends in multidimensional climate-related vulnerability in South Africa. They assess multidimensional climate-related vulnerability along four dimensions: demographic, economic, housing conditions, and nutrition. Overall, the findings show that there has been progress in reducing multidimensional climate-related vulnerability over time. Despite these gains, a sizeable portion of the population remained vulnerable due to a lack of safe drinking water and sanitation, as well as food insecurity. Furthermore, the degree of multidimensional climate-related vulnerability varies greatly by population group, income, and location. They also find evidence that some areas with a relatively high level of multidimensionally vulnerable population are also more likely to experience climate-related hazards. Read more

TSITICA was a collaborative, multi-country interdisciplinary research project. It brought together two ARUA Centres of Excellence with researchers from the universities of Ghana, Nairobi and Cape Town, and from the UK universities of Bristol, East Anglia and Manchester and the London School of Economics. The support of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) are gratefully acknowledged. Visit project website.