Beyond Policy: South Africa’s Just Energy Transition will be Driven by People, Especially its Youth
Nelson Muffuh, the UN Resident Coordinator in South Africa, reflects on how public messaging is addressing how communities and young South Africans understand, experience and participate in the clean energy transition shaping their future.
A billboard on a busy road prompts a pause.
“A just energy transition” usually sounds like something discussed in policy rooms. But one young person, reacting after seeing it, put it differently:
“This one made me stop for a second... it sounds big, but it actually starts with small everyday choices. Didn’t think about it like this before.” — @RealSihleIV
That reaction says more than any formal articulation.
South Africa’s transition to a cleaner and more resilient future is about more than energy infrastructure and policy. It is also about people, about how communities, households and young South Africans understand, experience and participate in the changes shaping their future.
The country faces a complex challenge. It must expand access to sustainable energy, strengthen climate resilience and support economic transformation, while ensuring that no one is left behind. A just energy transition will not be achieved by policy alone. It will also depend on whether people see themselves as part of the solution.
That conversation gained renewed urgency as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking at London Climate Action Week, highlighted the worsening climate crisis and growing energy insecurity linked to continued dependence on fossil fuels. He pointed to renewable energy as the clearest pathway to energy security, affordability and resilience, while calling for stronger international cooperation, science-based action and faster reductions in methane emissions. His message was clear: the transition is underway, but it must accelerate and benefit everyone.
From ambition to everyday action
Across South Africa, a deliberate effort is emerging to connect national ambition with everyday life.
Messages about climate action are appearing in the places people move through each day.
On roadside billboards, on community radio in local languages, on television screens and across social platforms where young people are actively engaging.
The focus is practical. Save energy. Support local. Choose cleaner options. Reduce waste.
Young people are responding to that simplicity.
“This is actually the kind of content we need more of. Simple, practical actions that make sense in real life… just things we can all start doing today.” — @Radebe_merci
“We really underestimate how much these everyday choices matter.” — @Radebe_merci
These responses signal something changing. Climate action is no longer being seen only as distant or technical. It is being understood as something immediate and connected to daily life through choices. What to buy. How to use energy. What to support.
The message from the Secretary-General reinforced that these individual choices connect to a much larger global transformation. As countries move towards a more secure and sustainable energy future powered by renewable energy, citizens, communities and especially young people have a critical role in shaping both the pace and fairness of that transition.
For some, this represents a new way of seeing it.
“I wasn’t looking at it this way until now. We learn every day.” — @LuckyMahloane
That realisation may seem small. But across communities, small shifts in perspective begin to accumulate.
From awareness to participation
There has long been a gap between policy ambition and public participation. Strategies set direction, but they do not automatically shift behaviour.
That shift happens when people recognise their role.
Across conversations emerging online and in communities, that recognition is becoming more visible.
“These billboards around the country make me realise that there’s so much simple stuff we don’t even think about that actually impacts the environment. I know I am ready to #ActNow.” — @portiamabunda_
“I’m so glad we have access to this information.” — @portiamabunda_
“We need more people to get on this. Let’s save the environment.” — @NtateWilliams
“I wasn’t looking at it this way until now. We learn every day.” — @LuckyMahloane
This is particularly evident among young people, who are engaging with climate issues not only as a future challenge, but as something that already shapes their daily lives.
From watching to leading
That growing engagement was on full display as Youth Champions came together for a watch party to follow the Secretary-General’s special address on climate and energy during London Climate Action Week. The event built on ongoing efforts to engage young people on climate action, South Africa’s just energy transition and the country’s broader sustainable development ambitions.
The atmosphere was energetic and hopeful. Young participants did more than watch. They reflected, discussed and connected the Secretary-General’s call for accelerated climate action with the realities facing their own communities. The conversation highlighted strong interest in renewable energy, climate resilience, sustainable lifestyles and the opportunities that can emerge from a just transition.
Importantly, the watch party demonstrated that young people are not waiting to be included in climate conversations. They are actively seeking opportunities to lead them. Given access to information, platforms and meaningful spaces for engagement, they are ready to contribute ideas, influence action and help shape solutions.
The experience also reinforced an important lesson: awareness is most powerful when it leads to participation. Information matters. But information that inspires action matters even more.
Delivering sustainability differently
This shift reflects a broader evolution in how sustainability is delivered.
Experience from earlier trade and climate justice campaigning, and later global mobilisation efforts around the Millennium Development Goals through Stand Up and the Sustainable Development Goals through Little x Little, has shown that people are not simply receivers of information. They are agents of change.
What is being applied now is that same lesson in practice. The emphasis is not only on informing people, but on enabling action. It moves the focus from what people should know to what people can do.
It places everyday behaviour at the centre of delivery.
Reaching people where they are
Part of what is making this possible is the way the message is carried.
Community radio brings the conversation into homes and neighbourhoods in languages that people use every day, turning climate action into something discussed locally.
Television extends that reach, embedding the message in everyday routines and reinforcing awareness at a national scale.
Public billboards translate complex ideas into something direct and visible, prompting reflection even in passing moments.
Together, these channels connect national ambition with lived experience and invite participation across society.
A shared path forward
Energy transitions are not only technical or financial exercises. They are also social transformations that require public understanding, participation and trust. As the Secretary-General underscored, the world must accelerate climate action, scale up renewable energy and strengthen collective efforts to address the climate and energy crises. Yet success also depends on whether people understand their role in the transition and feel empowered to act.
What is emerging is a growing sense of participation. A recognition that this transition is not something happening elsewhere or to someone else. It is something people can contribute to, influence and carry forward.
The enthusiastic participation of Youth Champions during the watch party demonstrated that South Africa’s young people are ready not only to engage with the climate conversation, but to help lead it. If the just energy transition is to succeed, their voices, ideas and actions will be among its most powerful drivers.
More people are beginning to see that the transition is not something that will simply happen to them.
It is something they are already helping to shape.
This blog was written by Nelson Muffuh, the UN Resident Coordinator in South Africa, and was originally published by SABC News. Please visit the UN team's website for more information about the UN's work in South Africa.
