Climate, Sustainability & Inequality
Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor
The Pro Vice-Chancellor for Climate, Sustainability and Inequality, Professor Imraan Valodia, is harnessing Wits University's diverse intellectual capacities, partnerships, and resources to help South Africa achieve its emissions targets and drive meaningful change.
This portfolio integrates climate, sustainability, and inequality - three deeply interconnected challenges that demand holistic solutions. The office supports existing research and teaching; strengthens collaboration across the university and with partners; and integrates activities to support policy change. By linking these areas, Wits is working toward South Africa's net-zero commitment by 2050 (SA LEDS, 2020) while addressing the extreme inequality that shapes both emissions responsibility (Oxfam, 2015) and climate vulnerability (OECD, 2022) in the world's most unequal country.
Climate Action: net zero by 2050
South Africa must reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. We're developing the research, policy, and partnerships needed to make this ambitious target achievable.
Sustainability: holistic solutions
Beyond carbon, we address water pollution, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem health - issues that impact food security and exacerbate climate-related impacts on communities.
Inequality: justice-based
The top 10% of South African earners generate far more emissions than the bottom 50%, while the poor suffer the worst climate impacts. Our climate policies must reverse this injustice, not reinforce it.
Pro-VC Team
Professor Imraan Valodia
Professor of Economics, Pro Vice-Chancellor: Climate, Sustainability and Inequality, and Director of the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) at Wits. He was appointed as the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Climate, Sustainability and Inequality from March 2022, a position created to oversee important strategic focus areas for the University. Previously, he served as the Dean of the Faculty of Commerce, Law, and Management. He is a member of an Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Wealth Inequality, aimed at driving international action and awareness around disparities in income, wealth, and opportunity.
E: imraan.valodia@wits.ac.za
Julia Taylor
Researcher on Climate and Inequality at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies. Previously, she was Researcher and Climate Policy Lead at the Institute for Economic Justice where she worked with labour unions (COSATU) on a vision for a Just Transition. She holds a BCom from the University of Cape Town, a PGD in Sustainable Development from Stellenbosch University, and an MSc in Environment and Development from Edinburgh University, and recently completed a Master’s in Applied Development Economics at Wits.
E: julia.taylor@wits.ac.za
Rahul Gandhi
Research Assistant at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, where he works on the G20, climate change, and inequality. An Emancipatory Futures Studies scholar, he earned an MA in International Relations from Wits, producing decolonial research on the impact of war on the environment in Gaza. As an activist, he has promoted food sovereignty at Wits through the Climate Justice Charter Move.
E: rahul.gandhi@wits.ac.za
Sonia Phalatse
Sonia Phalatse is an economist with experience in the private and public sectors. Previously, she worked as the Economic Justice Lead for the largest women’s rights organisation in Africa, the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET). Prior to that, she worked as a researcher concurrently in the Climate, Energy and Infrastructure and Feminist Economics programmes. She has a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Witwatersrand and received both her Bachelors and Honours degree in Economics from the University of Cape Town. Her research interests are in feminist economics, feminist political ecology, energy economics and the role of the state in development.
E: sonia.phalatse@wits.ac.za
Lindiwe Mdlalose
Lindiwe Mdlalose is a Research Project Officer at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies. She works on the Climate Change and Inequality project and on the Social Dimensions of Digital Economy project. She recently completed a Master of Management degree specialising in Public and Development Sector Monitoring and Evaluation from Wits University. She was previously employed by the United States Agency for International Development as a Project Management Assistant, focusing on monitoring and evaluation on multiple programmes in public health.
E: Lindiwe.mdlalose@wits.ac.za