Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Climate, Sustainability and Inequality at Wits University

The integration of three concepts – Climate, Sustainability and Inequality

The Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Climate, Sustainability and Inequality harnesses the University’s diverse and extensive intellectual capacities, partnerships, social and cultural capital, and other resources, in order to bring them to bear to achieve South Africa’s emissions targets and have an impact in these areas for good. The integration of three concepts – Climate, Sustainability and Inequality - is indicative of our holistic approach. This portfolio will aim to support existing climate research and teaching; increase collaboration across schools and faculties; strengthen partnerships with other universities; and better integrate activities to support policy change in both the public and private sectors.  

We will focus on climate in order to support South Africa’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 (SA LEDS, 2020). Sustainability, our second area of focus, is important because it encompasses broader environmental and social issues. These broader issues of sustainability (such as water pollution and biodiversity loss) affect the health of humans, animals and ecosystems, and will exacerbate the effects of climate change on water and food security. Inequality is the third focus due to the extreme inequality in the responsibility for emissions based on consumption in South Africa, with the top 10% of income earners contributing far more to emissions than the bottom 50%, as shown in a recent Oxfam report (Gore, 2015). High income earners contribute more to emissions and are also less likely to suffer the consequences. With South Africa’s status as the most unequal country in the world, we cannot risk increased inequality due to climate change (OECD, 2022).

South Africa has committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, which requires peaking emissions in 2025, followed by a plateau and decline. South Africa's updated Nationally Determined Contribution mitigation targets required by the Paris Agreement set a target to lower greenhouse gas emissions from the current level of around 500 Mt of carbon dioxide equivalent per year to between 350-420 Mt carbon dioxide equivalent per year by 2030 (RSA, 2021). Achieving this target will require significant investments in research, innovation, skills, hard and soft infrastructure and more, for a new, lower-carbon economy.