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This chapter asks whether the Sustainable Development Goals have advanced planetary ecological integrity, that is, strengthened policies towards the preservation of global commons at various levels of governance. We start with a brief account of the concept of planetary integrity, before engaging in a theoretical debate about the potential role of the Sustainable Development Goals in advancing planetary integrity, drawing on a literature survey. Finally, we assess the transformative potential of the goals for planetary integrity by focusing on governance interventions at international, regional, local and transnational levels. Our research shows that while the Sustainable Development Goals have raised concern about environmental protection, they do not motivate transformative change towards planetary integrity. Specifically, the literature raises doubts about the actual steering effects of the goals owing to their poor additionality with respect to existing environmental agreements, their inherent contradictions, and their weak ambition when it comes to planetary integrity.

Die hoofdoel van hierdie artikel is om moontlike dekoloniale momente in NP van Wyk Louw se denke na te speur. In die eerste plek gee ek 'n kort oorsig oor die kritiese gesprek tussen Louw en Johan Degenaar, met die vraagstuk rakende die "voortbestaan" van 'n "volk" as die vernaamste fokuspunt. Ek oorweeg veral Degenaar se kritiek op Louw se nasionalistiese politieke raamwerk en die redes vir sy kritiek. Teenoor "volksnasionalisme" en ander vorme van nasionalisme as raamwerk vir politiek in Suid-Afrika stel Degenaar 'n pluralistiese model voor. In die tweede deel van die opstel, in reaksie op Degenaar se vernaamste kritiek teen Louw, probeer ek vasstel tot watter mate 'n mens Louw kan interpreteer as 'n dekoloniale denker. Weens die dramatiese omwentelinge in die "Afrikaanse volk" se politieke lot oor die loop van die twintigste eeu, staan Louw op 'n sekere manier nader aan "ons" (Afrikaanssprekendes in Suid-Afrika in 2020) as Degenaar. In hierdie gedeelte vra ek hoe ons die dekoloniale momente in Louw se denke kan herwin ter wille van die hedendaagse besinning, sonder om die apartheidsgeskiedenis te ontken. In die proses moet ons die blindekolle van Louw en van Afrikanernasionalisme deeglik verreken, maar, stel ek voor, ook soek vir produktiewe aanknopingspunte tussen Louw as proto-dekoloniale denker en die hedendaagse dekolonisasie-debatte. The main aim of this article is to trace possible decolonial moments in the thought of NP van Wyk Louw. I know this is a controversial exercise and that it should be approached with great caution and nuance. Also, because of limited space, this remains a tentative opening up of the topic, which will, I hope, be explored further elsewhere. In the first section, "Degenaar en Louw", I introduce Louw's question about whether a small people ("volk") has the right to (continued) existence, and, if so, on what grounds. Louw initially asked this question during the 1930s - a time when "white Afrikaners" were beginning to overcome the worst effects of the "Tweede Vryheidsoorlog" (Second War of Liberation) (1899-1902) and of urbanisation. It was also a time of increasing nationalist rhetoric. On the one hand, Louw is a child of his time, and, as the philosopher Johan Degenaar shows in his critical response of 1976, Louw seems to absolutise the nationalist framework as the obvious way to order politics in South Africa. On the other hand, I show that, for his time, Louw is surprisingly open and even radical in his view of the "Afrikanervolk" (Afrikaner people) as a contingent creation whose enduring existence is by no means written in the stars, or divinely guaranteed, but dependent upon voluntary actions and certain measurable achievements. Degenaar and I find Louw's transition with regard to the highest justification of the Afrikaner's cultural survival to be very valuable. This is a transition from the inward-looking, aesthetic "achievement" of making a unique and universal contribution to global intellectual culture in and through Afrikaans, toward the outward-looking, ethical "achievement" of ensuring justice for all the other "volke" (peoples) in South Africa. Whereas Louw himself played an immeasurable role in realising the first achievement and an important role in the second as well, in so far as he cultivated radical self-critique as part of Afrikaner culture (Degenaar 1976:90), he finally could not prevent the "white Afrikaners" from failing in terms of the ethical standard he had set. I understand the decades-long maintenance and justification of the apartheid system and all its accompanying injustices to represent a moral failure of, and an existential crisis for, this group that it has barely started to confront. I believe Louw would agree with me in terms of his own response to the central question he himself posed about "voortbestaan in geregtigheid" (sustained existence in justice). Degenaar was of the opinion that Louw never was able finally to renounce a nationalist framework for conceptualising and organising South African politics - a framework Degenaar (with the benefit of hindsight) thought would inevitably lead to injustice. Degenaar consistently argues against the pitfalls of nationalist conceptions of statehood, which, after the end of apartheid, brings him in conflict with the "nation-building" rhetoric of the first democratic government led by the African National Congress - another group that has pitted nationalism (this time "African nationalism") against colonialism. In the second part of the article I show how Louw as an early or proto-decolonialist thinker, like many other African intellectuals after him, turns to a form of nationalism or "volkskap" (peoplehood) as a way of moving away from the colonial situation and mentality. Whereas there are many obvious differences between the historical situation of the Afrikaner grouping and other, especially "more indigenous", groups in South Africa, there are also some parallels in how Louw and, for example, Mignolo and Fanon attempt to address the colonial mentality and stance. All of them agree that the problematic aspects of colonialism do not end once actual military occupation and control have ended. What is often called "coloniality", or a colonial attitude and mind-set, typically prevails long after formal liberation of the colony concerned. When Louw's turn to nationalism is understood as a form of "decolonisation" or an attempt to address critically and overcome the colonial mentality, or so my argument goes, new and fresh light might be shed on his ideas. The other side of the coin is to use the Afrikaner's turn to nationalism in order to cure coloniality as a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of precisely such an enterprise.

Includes bibliographical references., The thesis considers the problem of climate change and identifies that the use of fossil fuels to generate energy since the Industrial Revolution has been a significant factor fuelling the emission of greenhouse gases and the consequent increase in global temperatures. Due to continuing economic growth, greenhouse gas emissions show no signs of abating. The thesis argues that promoting renewable energy would contribute to displacing fossil fuel-generated energy and a consequent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions or, at least, the rate at which such emissions are increasing. However, a significant barrier to the uptake of renewable energy is that it generally has higher initial costs than conventional fossil fuel-generated energy. In recognition of this barrier, a number of market-based instruments have been introduced internationally to support the uptake of renewable energy. Through a discussion of the literature, the thesis identifies that the renewable energy feed-in tariff has thus far been the most effective instrument in promoting renewable energy. It considers international examples of the feed-in tariff with a focus on Germany, which is largely considered to have had the most success with the feed-in tariff. In South Africa, which has a coal-based economy, renewable energy has only started to gain importance relatively recently. The thesis traces the development of renewable energy policy in South Africa through a consideration of the relevant legislation and policy documents as well as the market-based instruments that have been introduced to promote renewable energy. Even though the South African government has chosen to implement renewables tendering in respect of specific quantities of renewable energy, the thesis – in light of the numerous advantages of the feed-in tariff and its effectiveness internationally – argues in favour of a feed-in tariff and examines the elements of a feed-in tariff framework in the South African context.