Rethinking the green state beyond the Global North: a South African climate change case study

This study focuses on the role of the South African state in environmental governance, with particular reference to transformations in political authority and processes of capital accumulation. The authors’ approach underscores the importance of analyzing state environmental efforts both empirically and normatively, in order to understand the underlying drivers of state policies that perpetuate or ameliorate environmental degradation. Given the tension between economic and ecological values at the heart of South Africa’s approach to mitigation, they evaluate South Africa’s performance on climate change mitigation policies and programs.