CLIMATE LITIGATION: #CancelCoal court battle threatens future of young South Africans, say activists

{JSON.stringify(article.attachments[0], null, 2)} --> While the government argued the challenge to its plan to build new power plants was premature and threatens grid security, youth climate leaders maintain that forced coal expansion directly violates children’s constitutional rights and locks the country into unnecessary health and environmental crises.

Singing filled the air outside the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein on Wednesday, 19 August, as activists from the African Climate Alliance, Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action and groundWork gathered outside South Africa’s second-highest court.

Almost two years ago, similar scenes unfolded outside the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, where activists from the same groups gathered to challenge the government’s plans to develop 1,500 megawatts (MW) of new coal-fired electricity generation under the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP 2019) in what is now known as the #CancelCoal court case .

The lower court ruled in favour of the environmental groups, with Judge Cornelius van der Westhuizen handing down a landmark judgment that found that the then minister of mineral resources and energy, Gwede Mantashe, and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) had failed to adequately consider the impact of new coal-fired energy generation on constitutional rights, particularly those of children.

Judge van der Westhuizen subsequently found that the government’s plan was inconsistent with the Constitution, as well as “unlawful and invalid”.

Now, the minister of energy and electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who is in charge of shaping SA’s energy future, is asking the SCA to overturn the landmark judgment.

“The impression is that government is not just appealing the court case, but they are appealing our rights and our future as young people.