ID: 1609
Presenting Author: Thato Gaffane
Session: 629 - Post-Resettlement Realities: Trust, Housing, and Livelihoods Reconsidered
Status: pending
This paper argues that mining resettlement in South Africa must integrate climate adaptation to ensure sustainable, resilient livelihoods beyond housing provision.
Mining-induced displacement represents one of the most significant social risks in extractive industries, yet resettlement planning has historically focused on housing provision while neglecting livelihood restoration and, critically, climate resilience. This paper examines the intersection of involuntary resettlement and climate adaptation in South Africa's mining sector, demonstrating that adequate housing alone cannot ensure sustainable outcomes without economic opportunity, social support, and climate-proofed infrastructure.
Drawing on international standards (IFC PS5, World Bank ESS5), South Africa's 2024 Climate Change Act, and global best practices, we argue that resettlement must now address future climate extremes—not historical norms. Site selection must avoid flood-prone valleys and heat-island locations using climate projections and hazard mapping. Housing and infrastructure require climate-proofing through passive cooling, elevated foundations, stormwater management, and green infrastructure. Crucially, livelihood restoration programs must adopt a climate lens, supporting drought-tolerant agriculture, water conservation techniques, and diversified income sources that build adaptive capacity.
International examples from Fiji, Nepal, and New Zealand illustrate emerging frameworks for climate-linked relocation, while South African cases reveal the consequences of inadequate planning: relocated communities face worsening conditions when jobs, services, and climate risks are ignored.
This paper calls for updated resettlement standards requiring climate risk asse
Dr. Gwendolyn Wellmann is an independent sociologist and Thato Gaffane is a South African Attorney with extensive environmental rights in the context of the extractives sector.
Coauthor 1: Gwendolyn Wellmann