for life,
beyond fossil fuels
CHECK OUT OUR UPCOMING EVENTS HERE
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CHECK OUT OUR UPCOMING EVENTS HERE ·
WElcome to FFSA
Welcome to Fossil Free South Africa! We are a network of South Africans working to secure our collective human rights in a thriving and egalitarian society. The most destructive industry in South Africa is the fossil fuel industry. Yet, sadly, most South Africans continue to believe it is indispensable.
To truly fulfil the promises of our Constitution, we need to stop investing in and supporting this industry and accelerate reinvestment in sustainable energy and an economy that supports true social and ecological development.
We aim to show why fossil fuels are now obsolete, to stigmatise their ongoing use, accelerate sustainable system change, and help slow climate change.
Fossil Free South Africa was legally established as a voluntary association in early 2015, born from a campaign by alumni, students and academics to persuade the University of Cape Town to stop investing in fossil fuels, a campaign that finally succeeded in 2022.
WHAT WE DO
1. Asset managers must invest for a safer climate
Many of us are investing in the biggest agents of climate change – fossil fuel companies. Our #InvestFossilFree campaign is trying to change that by building public support for engagements with asset managers to provide fossil-fuel free investment options for the many who want them. We’ve already helped set up one low carbon fund in South Africa, and it’s performed well for three years.
2. Challenge fossil fuel advertising
The fossil fuel industry relies on PR and advertising for its continued social licence to operate. We are challenging this through our Fossil Ad Ban campaign which lobbies for a progressive ban on fossil fuel advertising and branding in Cape Town, as well as our Clean Creatives South Africa campaign which asks creatives to pledge to not work for the fossil fuel industry.
3. Mobilise universities
We work with students from Wits, Stellenbosch and UCT to campaign their universities to divest from fossil fuels, reinvest in local sustainable alternatives, and disassociate from fossil fuels that are embedded in Academia. Our Fossil Free UCT campaign successfully convinced UCT to commit to divestment in 2022!
4. Mapmaking – guides for investors and journalists
We create resources and strategic media to explain and share our vision. This includes our Planet A Investment Guide that helps people make climate-responsible investment decisions, and our Climate Reporting Guide, supporting journalists responsibly reporting on the climate crisis.
Recent updates
David Le Page, our director-coordinator, on a panel titled ‘A press for the planet: Journalism in the face of the environmental crisis' for World Press Freedom Day 2024 at Stellenbosch University.
Thameena Dhansay, our Fossil Ad Ban campaigner, speaking about why fighting against fossil fuel companies should be a core demand of decolonisation movements at our Palestine, Planet and Our People event.
Click on the image above to find notes from our discussion, ‘Genocide in Gaza: Environmental and Colonial Lenses’ with esteemed panelists Nina Lakhani (The Guardian), Fadi Quran (AVAAZ), and Tara Nair van Ryneveld (SAFCEI).
