Africa to improve access (Hatcher et al., 2019; Garekae and Shackleton, 2020). Why, then, is this book advocating for a renewed focus on RTF? The answers are directly linked to the abovementioned hypothesis. Simply put, this book is striking in three main ways: first, it uses a human rights approach to assess public policy. It challenges human rights activists and scholars to transcend issues of procedural justice in order to analyse distributional justice and the complementary role of socioeconomic policy; second, by using a human rights framework, the book analyses the shortfalls in public polices and how they can be triggered to address gender biases, income inequality and poverty. The book therefore makes an enormous contribution to scholarship

Climate change poses a considerable threat to the young generation. While the youths from Africa are less responsible for air pollution, prominent projections indicate that they are likely to be the most disadvantaged by the results of global warming, such as deluge, drought, and heat waves. Unlike those in China and countries in the Global North with the capacity to adapt to anticipated warming, Africa’s young generation is more susceptible as it lacks the capacity to cope with the socio-economic challenges that climate change brings, including food price hikes, heat stress, and water shortages. Thus, although it has been nearly two decades since the adoption of the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, a disproportionate percentage of countries in the Global North are yet to fully comply with the provisions of the instrument that aims to cap rising greenhouse emissions (GHGs). The article argues that racial injustice is perpetrated by the highest emitters of GHGs since Africa, which is noted as the least emitter, will be hit the most by climate change. It is against this backdrop that the article considers the prospects and challenges of Africa’s youths filing an application with the Committee on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to hold the highest emitting states accountable for the serious harm that their actions might have on the youths’ livelihoods.

Background The urgency to pursue sustainable consumption or use energy in a manner that does not negatively impact the environment has become an important theme in recent times. As a major fluctuation in the atmosphere, climate change will be one of the major challenges faced by youth. As a result, there have been a growing number of young South Africans advocating for environmental justice. Surprisingly, their effort has not yielded the expected result as the country continues to emit a high amount of greenhouse gases. The notion of youth may be construed as those between the ages of 15 and 24. The age bracket suggests that the adult lives of this population will be shaped by environmental crises such as famines, vector-borne diseases, and hikes in commodity prices which may impinge on their basic rights to life, health, and property. This development triggers an ancient discourse, what role can youth play towards decarbonization? In other words, which effective avenue could be used by young people for capping emissions? Methods An analysis of South Africa’s energy policy documents relevant to sustainability was conducted through the application of desktop research. We use (inter)national instruments and jurisprudence to understand how a state structure, like the judiciary, could nudge the executive to cap rising green gas emissions. South Africa is used as a case study because of its over-reliance on coal for electricity, and how young people could use the existing legal framework to cap rising emissions. Drawing from existing literature, the paper interrogates the lack of activism around climate litigation and under what conditions this pattern could be reversed in South Africa. Results The paper found that while litigation has an important role to play in mitigating climate change, it ought to be complemented with other forms of advocacy. Conclusions The study concludes that given the government’s perceived slow steps towards shifting from coal to renewables, youth (who will bear the brunt of high emissions) ought to use both courtrooms and advocacy to trigger political action.

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As policy and research institutes, think tanks have advisory and monitoring mandates that could be channelled towards consolidating democracy. Yet, although South Africa has some well-established think tanks (WETT), their presence has not translated into enhancing race relations and living conditions. There is therefore the need to explore why these institutions have been unable to sufficiently influence policy and practice, mainly in the area of social cohesion and socio-economic welfare. It is against this backdrop that the paper looks at the evolving nature and works of two WETTs. The paper considers their capacities and challenges in strengthening race relations and social protection. Proposing a persuasive argument for the creation of an enabling environment, the paper draws from political theories in suggesting ways of enhancing a vibrant think thank sector in contemporary South Africa.