The UN System in South Africa is committed to support the country in meeting its development objectives in alignment with the national development priorities and within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To this end, UNDP South Africa focuses its partnership with the Government of South Africa on achieving demonstrable and sustainable development results in the pursuit of development goals, and in the delivery of and access to quality services particularly for marginalized and vulnerable groups.

The work of UNDP’s Environment and Energy Programme is guided by the UN South Africa Strategic Cooperation Framework (SCF 2013-17) which identifies sustainable development as one of its focus areas. The overall objective of this Programme is to unleash the transformative potential of the green economy. Through this Programme, UNDP contributes to the realisation of resilient communities, gender equity, and climate change mitigation and adaptation to ensure the that environmental assets (energy, water and biodiversity) are well protected and development in a sustainable manner. Specifically, the Programme supports Government’s ongoing efforts on greening the economy through initiatives on advocacy, knowledge management, capacity building, sustainable use of natural resources, solutions and opportunities for inclusive growth purposes. The work on Energy and Environment is focused on the following priority areas:

Enhancing biodiversity management through conservation and sustainable use;
Climate Change mitigation and adaptation;
Sustainable land management to combat desertification and land degradation;
International Waters; and
Enhancing capacity for Sustainable Energy for All.