The threat of climate change and the resultant catastrophic weather events across the globe underpin the need for a shift away from carbon-intensive modes of production. In South Africa, where the generation of electricity is heavily reliant on coal, this imperative is recognised, and various policies are aimed at supporting the implementation of a Just Energy Transition.

This transition to a greener economy can have various impacts on the labour force, with a significant concern being an increase in unemployment. This research paper proposes an analytical framework for profiling workers who are likely to be impacted by the energy transition, based on what work they do and in which industry they work. By combining a bottom-up approach to identify occupations related to the green transition with a top-down approach to identifying ‘brown’ industries, the researchers arrive at a matrix that allows us to understand where workers find themselves on the nexus between green transition occupations and brown industries.

Using South African labour force data, the researchers plot these two dimensions characterising a worker’s employment and provide a nuanced picture of what type of worker may be at risk, or alternatively better placed to withstand the potential effects of the green transition.

Such an understanding can ultimately assist in developing efficient and effective policies and interventions to mitigate the potential risks of the green transition. A key feature of the framework is its flexibility with respect to the definition of ‘green’ jobs and ‘brown’ industries; the bottom-up and top-down approaches; as well as the data utilised, extending its usefulness to a global level.

The seminar will be presented by:

  • Katherine Davidson (SALDRU, University of Cape Town) holds a Master’s degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Social Science in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, both obtained from UCT. She works primarily on SALDRU's Youth Explorer project. Her current research interests encompass the Just Energy Transition and green jobs.
  • Arindam Jana, a postdoctoral researcher at ACEIR's South Africa research node at SALDRU.

About this research

This paper was authored by Katherine Davidson, Ariane De Lannoy, Joanna Grotte, Arindam Jana, Anda David, and Murray Leibbrandt.

It stems from a larger and collaborative project on green jobs led by the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town, in partnership with ACEIR’s South Africa node, and the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa.