Articles for April 2022
The changing landscape of sustainable finance
The global climate effects of rising carbon emissions are fast becoming too costly to ignore. However, mitigating these effects also carry risks and involve transition costs that can be difficult to estimate upfront. We explore how these developments could affect financial stability and how trends in sustainable finance are being used to respond to the associated threats and opportunities.
Public employment programmes: what they contribute to jobs and earnings
Public works programmes are central to the National Development Plan’s aim to counter poverty and increase employment. Special employment programmes met the NDP’s target of one million work opportunities by 2015, but then declined sharply. Measured on a full-time equivalent basis, the EPWP and CWP contributed 2.6% of total employment and just over R12 billion in wages in 2019/20. Since then, the Presidential Employment Stimulus programme has demonstrated that more rapid “scaling up” of employment programmes is possible. They should be seen not just as short-term “work opportunities” but rather as productive components of a development strategy that works for all.