Having conversations that enlarge understanding and establish common ground is one way a climate activist uses to push for greater collective action.

Talk is cheap; it’s the “more blah-blah-blah” climate activist Greta Thunberg famously said in slating high-level climate change talks. Thunberg has a point, judging by the sluggish steps forward to curb greenhouse gas emissions as the planet warms and as our time to act runs out. But Mbali Baduza, who is deputy-secretary of the Climate Justice Coalition of South Africa, a civil society and youth commissioner on the Presidential Climate Commission and the CEO of the Constitution Hill Trust (operating as WeThePeopleSA), also makes the case for taking the time to have the right kinds of dialogue.

Part of the work of the PCC is to build consensus around the energy transition – the shift from coal-based energy to cleaner energy sources. But that transition has to be “just,” Mbali says. “‘Just’ means we need a transformative climate agenda, but at the same time, that agenda has to address inequality and poverty,” she says.

Mbali is a lawyer by qualification and cut her activist teeth at the social justice organisation Section27. She says finding common ground and getting to better decision-making comes from productive, inclusive conversations.

“We speak to as many people as possible. It does mean that I’m hardly ever not going through hundreds of pages of documents, or having dozens of consultations a week, or writing pages and pages of reports, but I think it’s a choice you make as an activist. This is what the country needs; it’s what I can do, so I do it.”

“The amazing thing is that as we talk, when we use the power of reinforcing the positive, we find that business and labour have things in common; that government and civil society have things in common. Of course, there are tensions but you find that people are actually not that far apart from each other,” says Mbali.

Mbali’s latest role has also been as an advisor on the funding platform linked to South Africa’s just energy transition investment agenda. This fund benefits from billions of dollars from global partners who have financial obligations to developing nations. It’s meant to assist vulnerable poorer nations to make the transition to clean energy, recognising that less industrialised nations are low greenhouse gas emitters and make the transition at the cost of not having had a chance to industrialise themselves for the economic growth and development they might also want for their nations. It makes these funding plans trade-offs, not silver bullets.

Mbali says they are also complex. For instance, projects linked to supporting communities in Mpumalanga are a key focus area for funding. These are communities long exposed to health risks and environmental degradation with their economic lives entwined with coal industries in the area. The end of coal must come, but the most vulnerable cannot be left to carry a double burden.

Mbali adds that many communities don’t meet the criteria to access funding; it could be for things like not having a financial officer or not having a financial plan. They are essentially locked out of a just energy transition economy.

Part of the work is to capacitate people to become bankable in the future; to be able to stand on their own two feet

“This is a barrier to the finance flows to these organisations, so part of the work is to capacitate people to become bankable in the future; to be able to stand on their own two feet.

“Another important element of this is talking to the funders, making them understand and realise the specific socio-economic context of some of our communities. Funders’ expectations of processes and outcomes must also change,” she says.

It’s more of the kind of talking that matters for Mbali – the kind that gets people to want to learn a bit more, to reconsider their positions and then to act more appropriately. Mbali brings this approach to her work at the Constitution Hill Trust too.

WeThePeopleSA works to make the Constitution and the Bill of Rights known, defended and a true living document.

“We use social media to break things down to give people bite-sized, relatable information that they can understand, and we target the younger generation because they don’t have a lived experience of the fight to defeat apartheid,” she says.

Solving the world’s problems is difficult, but we are that much closer when we are principled about it

And after all, it’s a durable Constitution that creates a framework within which just energy transition must take place. It upholds a set of principles, a cornerstone for Mbali to tackle the big challenges of the world, as she says: “Solving the world’s problems is difficult, but we are that much closer when we are principled about it.”

But ultimately it’s not big problems that make Mbali worry; it’s being paralysed, disengaged and bereft of ideas and hope that do more damage. “Climate change does pose substantial social, economic, financial, and environmental challenges for South Africa – we as a species are in trouble. But as the eternal optimist, I also see it as an opportunity. Being paralysed won’t do us much good,” she says.

The antidote to hopelessness for Mbali comes from connecting people, using clearer communication – also her generous laughter. When she can help more people see that the passions close to their hearts can also become personal action, it’s a win. She says: “If your passion is education for girls or sustainable fashion, then learn more about these things. When you become conscientised you will see that climate change impacts all of our social issues. And then you have a place to start.”

• Feature image by Aristotlè Guweh from Pexels