Abstract
Environmental concerns became prominent in the 1980’s as the effects of climate change became noticeable and alarming. Consequently, several environmental legislations, frameworks and negotiating-conferences were developed in order to address these concerns. The solution identified at these conferences was that greenhouse gas emissions should be mitigated by means of a transition towards a green economy. The transition towards a green economy in developing countries did not occur easily. Developing countries struggled to align with the goals of a green economy and decided to establish Climate Innovation Centres (CICs), in collaboration with the World Bank, across seven developing countries as a green economic initiative. One of these CICs were established in South Africa.
The aim of this study is to assess the establishment, development and organization of the CIC South Africa. Little data is available on the CIC South Africa and therefore I conducted in-depth face-to-face semi-structured interviews with four CIC employees and 20 enterprises to obtain primary data on the following themes: the establishment of the CIC; its development which includes its structure and visibility; the organization of the CIC which includes the type of businesses the CIC recruit; the benefits the partners and the enterprises obtain to be part of the CIC; the various services they offer to start-up enterprises; the impact of the CIC on the success of start-up enterprises; and the hindrances the CIC encounter. CIC South Africa was launched in 2012 and is in operation for a mere five years. Their contribution to align South Africa with green economic goals will definitely increase as time goes on.
M.Sc. (Environmental Management)