Climate, Sustainability & Inequality
Driving Change Through Research
Wits research addresses some of the world's most pressing challenges - from climate change and water security to inequality and public health. Our researchers work across disciplines and borders, partnering with communities, governments, and institutions across Africa and globally to create knowledge that drives real-world impact.
Our research spans the full spectrum of the Sustainable Development Goals, with particular strength in areas critical to Southern Africa's future: sustainable cities, health systems, energy transitions, and social justice.
SDG-Aligned Research and Impact: Climate, Sustainability and Inequality
Wits conducts extensive research addressing climate change, sustainability and inequality through multiple initiatives and across our five faculties. Our research involves collaborations with international partners, government bodies, industry and communities to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.
A snapshot of some of the areas we are working on:
Climate Change and Environmental Research
The Global Change Institute (GCI) addresses problems related to global change, climate change, and sustainability through multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. The GCI plays a prominent role in co-creating, understanding, and informing global change solutions for decision-makers across business, industry, and government at municipal, provincial, and national levels.
The Future Ecosystems for Africa programme, led by the GCI and the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, enables African scientists to inform global efforts to improve biodiversity, conservation, social well-being and climate mitigation in ways that capture the priorities and experience of African people.
Research on renewable energy solutions includes developing micro-scale electricity systems for rural communities through innovations like PowerBricks, providing affordable and sustainable access to energy for people unable to connect to the grid, directly addressing energy poverty and inequality.
The Wits Mining Institute is creating a 21st-century systems model of mining that is sustainable, responsible and competitive, contributing to innovation in every related dimension across the sector’s operating ecosystem.
Water, Sanitation and Environmental Health
Wits Water supports research across all aspects of water, including acid mine drainage, sanitation challenges, environmental law, and climate change through the lens of the global South.
The Earth Justice and Stewardship Chair is a paired initiative with the Claude Leon Chair in Water Research. The work of the Chairs is contextualised by two existential crises: The climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis.
The South African Consortium of Air Quality Monitoring, with Wits as a founding member, developed Ai_r, a cost-effective monitoring system using sensors and artificial intelligence to provide real-time data on local air quality.
Inequality and Social Justice Research
The Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) is an interdisciplinary research centre dedicated to understanding and addressing inequality in the Global South. SCIS researchers serve on bodies including the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, the National Minimum Wage Commission, and the Presidential Climate Commission, directly influencing policy on inequality and climate justice.
The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) undertakes research, advocacy and strategic litigation across Environmental Justice and other programmes, building relationships with communities most affected by environmental degradation and deprivation of rights, promoting social justice through evidence-based legal interventions.
The Centre for Urbanism and Built Environment Studies (CUBES) researches how urban inequality manifests in the built environment, focusing on how marginalised peoples experience access to urban goods, spaces, and housing.
Rural Development and Health Equity
The Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit operates the Agincourt health and socio-demographic surveillance system in rural northeast South Africa, comprising 31 villages and approximately 120,000 people. The research informs national, regional and global health and development policy, with particular relevance to understanding how climate change and environmental factors affect health in vulnerable rural communities.
The Wits Rural Facility and Rural Knowledge Hub serves as a base for rural-focused research, student training, and community outreach. Research themes include sustainable rural livelihoods, savanna ecology, socio-ecological systems and socio-economic development, all addressing the intersection of sustainability, climate change and rural inequality.
For detailed information on Wits' contributions to advancing the SDGs, read our SDG report
Bringing Disciplines Together: The Interfaculty Symposium
Since 2022, the Pro VC office has coordinated an annual Interfaculty Symposium on Climate, Sustainability and Inequality, bringing together academics and postgraduate students from across Wits to share research, spark collaboration, and plant seeds of change. Climate and inequality challenges are too large and complex for any single discipline to tackle alone - interdisciplinary exchange is essential.
In 2024, we expanded the symposium to include master's students, awarding prizes for the top three posters. Contributions ranged from bird biodiversity in Johannesburg to sustainable irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe, showcasing the breadth and creativity of research across the university.
2023 Report → | 2024 report →