“Cooperation delivers positive change”

The team contributes to the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) and the Carbon Credit Quality Initiative (CCQI) led by the Oeko-Institut, WWF USA and EDF. Acting as EDF’s Vice President Global Climate Cooperation, Mandy Rambharos pays particular attention to the social aspects of climate action and a just transition. “For instance, when climate projects are delivered it is vital that frontline communities are involved, no one is left behind and the voices of all stakeholders are heard,” she explains. In its roadmap for a Just Transition and Safeguards Framework, EDF sets out a range of safeguards designed to ensure that the social impacts of climate actions are truly taken into account. “An analysis of precisely those impacts directly on the ground is always the starting point.”

Boosting sustainability

“If, for instance, coal-fired power plants are shut down and renewables are expanded, a first impact is that many people lose their jobs,” the EDF expert says. “They need to be put in a position to participate in change – one way is to retrain and upskill those who are employed today in the fossil industries for the renewables industries.” The way the transition affects people on the ground is evidenced by numerous other aspects of sustainability – such as health management, the state of the economy or the level of income available to disadvantaged groups of the population. “Intensive cooperation can improve the lives of local communities in many respects – we need only think of air and water quality, or access to cleaner energy.” Mandy Rambharos ascribes a special role to the carbon market for climate action and thus for precisely this kind of change.

Harnessing experience

Putting climate change mitigation into practice and establishing voluntary carbon markets are at the core of Mandy Rambharos’ work at many levels. As the former negotiator for South Africa at the United Nations climate talks notes: “Many countries need assistance in coping with the transformation from coal-based energy supply to a renewables-sourced energy system. The Indian government, for example, is expressing interest in the conditions needed to establish voluntary carbon markets. We are providing assistance.” She is keen to harness the experience gained in this work and make it available to other countries, too, building knowledge and capacity in Arican states as well.

Speeding up standardisation

As in many other fields, international cooperation makes hugely valuable contributions here. However, things could progress more rapidly, Mandy Rambharos says. “Of course, the UN process helps a lot to move ahead through international cooperation. Without it many rules and regulations would not exist. But it is also a very slow process. It would make sense if the standardisation of carbon markets, to name an example, were to advance quicker. For we need the money for climate action now and not years later.” The voluntary carbon market has already made much greater progress, she notes – it has standards, rules and regulations. “But here, too, there is of course room for improvement. For instance, it would make eminent sense if the various stakeholders could agree to adhere to a joint quality standard – such as the ICVCM principles.”

Mandy Rambharos worked for twenty-four years for South African energy utility Eskom – tackling issues of sustainable development from the outset. From 2019 to 2022 she concentrated on its just energy transition. With her team she led the development of a strategy for Africa’s largest electric utility to transition the South African electricity sector from coal to renewables. In October 2022 Mandy Rambharos joined Environmental Defense Fund EDF. As Vice President, Global Climate Cooperation, Mandy leads EDF’s work to promote more ambitious and effective global climate action, including at the United Nations climate talks. Prior to joining EDF, Mandy was a negotiator for South Africa at the talks, where she was involved in the negotiations on Paris Agreement Article 6. One of the focuses of her work at EDF is on voluntary carbon markets and how they can boost climate action without disadvantaging marginalised communities. Moreover, the energy expert is a member of the Board of the South African National Business Initiative (NBI) and is since July 2024 CEO of VERRA, the world’s leading carbon crediting programme. She is also a member of the technical council of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Weitere Informationen

Profile of Mandy Rambharos in eco@work magazine issue 02/2024

Blogpost on the EDF website: Charting the path to equity: unveiling new Just Transition and Safeguards Framework