In South Africa, coal dominates the energy landscape—feeding the country’s mineral-energy industrial complex and generating nearly 90% of national electricity. Nowhere is this more visible than in Mpumalanga, a province densely packed with mines and polluting power stations. For decades, communities living on the fenceline have endured social and environmental damages caused by constant blasting. In 2023, representatives of Guinean civil society and local communities travelled to South Africa to understand the human and environmental costs of coal in Mpumalanga. Their aim was to learn directly from communities living beside mines and power stations, and from activists leading the fight for clean air and a just energy transition. With Guinea considering several coal plants to supply future alumina refineries, this experience came at a critical crossroads for the country’s energy future.

Trucks loaded with coal lined the roads, gray smoke drifted from towering stacks. Families living near power plants spoke of cracked houses, contaminated water, and persistent coughs in children. Mpumalanga is a province carrying more than half of South Africa’s 15 coal-fired power stations. These facilities supply nearly 90% of the country’s electricity, but at devastating cost.

The Kendal Power Station located in the province and built by Eskom, is one of the oldest and most problematic plants, polluted ash blanketed nearby homes. The plant’s outdated boilers and broken conveyors meant inefficiency and even higher emissions.

Thomas Mnguni, Coal campaigner at GroundWork in South Africa, clearly states the consequences of this pollution on present and future generations: “the whole coal value chain is destructive. It destroys land, water, and the air people breathe. We are raising sick adults already.” Civil society investigations revealed that Kendal and other plants routinely violated air quality laws, sometimes falsifying environmental data—a discovery that helped trigger a rare criminal case against Eskom, the state-owned electricity company.

Watch the video : A Fossil-Free Future! Lessons on burning coal to fuel refineries & advocacy for a just transition

Voices From the Frontline: How South Africans Organize and Fight Back

The delegation met Vusi Mabaso from the Vukani Environmental Movement (VEM). His organization played a key role in the landmark Deadly Air case, filed in 2019. “We went door-to-door,” Vusi recalled, adding “families told us: ‘yes, the air is making us sick.’ Their testimonies became the evidence that helped us win the case.”

Despite the court victory, pollution persists. But communities have gained something crucial: a voice in shaping air quality laws and demanding accountability.

Throughout the visit, a recurring lesson emerged: the fight for clean energy is inseparable from the fight for community participation and dignity, as Thomas said: “authorities cannot make decisions without engaging the communities whose lives will be affected.”

Imagining a Just Energy Future: From Coal Dependency to Solar Leadership

At the VEM community office, the delegation explored a small solar energy system installed on rooftops. This system, with six solar panels connected to batteries and inverters, provides electricity for the community. While modest, it serves as an example of a practical, community-driven approach to energy—showing how people can take control of their own energy needs rather than relying solely on large, centralized coal power plants.

Bobby Peek, GroundWork Director and longtime environmental justice advocate, emphasizes that for South Africa to achieve a “just energy transition”, the energy system must be accessible, decentralized, and socially owned, meaning communities themselves should have a say in how energy is produced and used. He also points out the paradox: despite having 15 large coal-fired power plants, many people living near these plants still lack electricity. This illustrates energy poverty, meaning that massive energy infrastructure does not automatically translate into access for local communities. This highlights the need for sustainable community-centered renewable solutions.

This pushed the Guinean delegates to reflect: who will benefit if Guinea invests in coal? Who will bear the costs?

Lessons for Guinea: Why This Exchange Matters Now

Guinea does not yet burn coal for electricity—but five to seven coal-fired power plants have been proposed to power alumina refineries in Boké and Boffa.

The trip made the risks crystal clear. First, coal devastates water, land and air: communities feedback in Mpumalanga showed how emissions, ash, acid drainage, and blasting create long-term health and environmental crises. Second, transparency and monitoring cannot be taken for granted. Even with strong laws, South African activists had to expose manipulation and fight in court to enforce basic protections.

Another important lesson is that communities must be central to energy decisions, because excluding affected residents leads to deep injustice—both in South Africa and in Guinea, and all over the world. Last, renewable energy alternatives are possible. In SA case, decentralized solar systems demonstrate that energy transitions can be community-driven.

Guinea stands at a crossroads. By learning from the struggles and victories of SA communities, activists and local communities can help shape a future powered by clean and community-centered energy solutions. The time to act is now, to avoid a path to pollution, illness, and dependency.

The South African learning exchange was coordinated by Lien De Brouckere from the 11^th Hour Project, who helped shape the learning objectives, prepare participants, and consolidate the key takeaways. Lien later produced a film of the learning exchange, supported by Director of Photography Tom Laffay and editor Kate Linhardt, refining the story arc, script, and key messages. Dubbed in French and the three primary local languages in Guinea (Malinke, Pular and Sousou), the primary purpose of the film is to share the learnings with local communities and civil society organizations in Guinea.

The post Inside South Africa’s Coal Heartland: Lessons for Guinea’s Energy Future first appeared on Communities First.

In February 2023, eighteen community leaders and civil society advocates from Guinea’s mining regions travelled to South Africa to learn from communities that have spent more than a century organizing against the harms of industrial mining. Hosted by GroundWorkand local partners, the visit revealed a powerful truth: real change begins when communities themselves organize to defend their rights.

Despite its mineral wealth, South Africa remains deeply unequal. More than half the population lives in poverty, and many mining-affected communities still lack clean water and sanitation. In Mpumalanga and other mining zones, residents described severe air and water pollution from coal-fired power plants and industrial waste. One of the most important lessons was how people mobilize to confront problems.

Watch the video : Community Organizing for Clean Air – Guinean activists visit South Africa on a learning exchange

When Communities Resist division and Lead Their Own Movements

Facing poverty, pollution and social injustice, South African leaders warned Guinean visitors about a pattern they know too well: mining companies creating divisions through selective recruitment and false promises. Molebohena Mathafena from Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance, stated “people want to work, but the opportunities are given in a way that creates conflicts between community members. For them, it is a tactic to divide and conquer, so that mining continues peacefully”. For this reason, amongst others, they stressed unity is essential. When leadership is shared, communities cannot be easily manipulated, and even “If one person is compromised, you still have 99 people to carry the struggle”, as Thomas Mnguni, Coal campaigner at GroundWork in South Africa said.

In 2012, 34 striking workers were killed in Marikana, a village in South Africa’s North West province, located halfway between the towns of Brits and Rustenburg, along the railway line connecting the two. Hosts reminded the delegation that activism in mining areas carries real risks. Yet communities continue to organize despite threats and intimidation.

Promise Mabilo, a VEM leader stressed it is important to “sit down so that it’s a community thing so that even if they come it back doors, the community stands firm and say we are fighting for our rights”

Women leaders, youth groups, and movements like VEM showed how door-to-door education, documenting illnesses, and challenging company practices can build collective power.

A simple but transformative tool stood out: the community bucket monitoring system, which allows residents to measure air pollution themselves. Collecting their own data has helped South Africans prove pollution levels and push for enforcement of environmental laws, a model Guinean villages can adapt for dust, water quality, and blasting impacts.

South Africans are not only resisting mining abuses — they are creating alternatives. Community-run solar installations, gardens, and youth-led climate initiatives show that a just transition is already taking shape from the ground up.

Key Lessons for Guinean Communities

The South African experience shows that real change starts when communities themselves lead the fight for their rights, sharing knowledge widely so that every villager, not just a few leaders, understands the laws, the risks, and the stakes. It also demonstrates that unity is a source of protection, while division opens the door to corporate manipulation. By documenting pollution, broken promises, and daily harms, communities build the evidence they need for strong advocacy. And perhaps most importantly, South African activists remind us that alternatives do exist: futures rooted in community-controlled resources, clean energy, and regenerative livelihoods are not only imaginable but achievable.

The message was clear: when communities organize themselves, they become powerful agents of change.

Amadou Bah from ActionMines Guinée knows change will not come overnight, as “social barriers in Guinea must be broken down gradually so citizens understand they shape political governance.” Still, the hope inspired by the South African experience strengthens the delegation’s resolve to support communities and empower them to stand up for their rights, because, as the VEJA Coordinator, Samson Mokoena, reminded everyone, “we have to rethink about development as Africans. What kind of a development do you want.”

This learning exchange was coordinated by Lien De Brouckere of the 11^th Hour Project, who helped define the objectives, prepare the participants, and support them in compiling the main lessons. She later produced a film of the learning exchange, supported by Director of Photography Tom Laffay and editor Kate Linhardt shaping the narrative, script, and core messages. Dubbed in French and the three primary local languages in Guinea (Malinke, Pular and Sousou), the primary purpose of the film is to share the learnings with local communities and civil society organizations in Guinea.

The post When Communities Lead, Change Becomes Possible: Insights from South Africa for Guinean Communities first appeared on Communities First.

AngloGold Ashanti has agreed to pay damages to the communities of Area One who were forcibly evicted from their land for the gold mine’s expansion in 2015. This is the first such victory in Guinea.

In the wake of the violence, local and international civil society organizations mobilized to support the communities who had been violently forced to move from their land in 2015 for the expansion of the Siguiri gold mine project, operated by a Guinea-based subsidiary of AngloGold Ashanti.

Watch the video : Securing Justice for Forced Displacement from the Siguiri Gold Mine

A minefield journey since the eviction

When we began our struggle, nobody believed we would get anything from this company and we were told to give up, but we persisted and today we can hold our heads high again”, said Balla Camara, the courageous community leader of Area One who dared to call for accountability.

Guinea is a politically unstable country with a hostile environment for human rights defenders, and a repressive government most often opting to protect the interests of mining companies, such as AngloGold Ashanti, the country’s leading gold producer, rather than the people.

Established in the Siguiri region for more than 800 years, these 365 families – artisanal miners, traders and farmers – were violently evicted and arbitrarily arrested by the State security forces. They were then made to seek temporary lodging elsewhere for years, and finally resettled while still seeing their health, education and livelihoods in danger. Many other violations of national and international law occurred, but little hope for justice were provided. Avenues for legal recourse in Guinea are nearly nonexistent with a poorly functioning judiciary in a country rife with corruption.

Following the money and tireless community solidarity, keys to victory

The evicted communities sought the advice of local NGO Commerce International pour le Développement (CECIDE), who had long been supporting the human rights of communities in the Siguiri area.

CECIDE mobilized its network including local lawyers at Mêmes Droits Pour Tous (MDT) and international partners, including Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA) and The 11^th Hour Project. With little possibility of legal redress in Guinea, Inclusive Development International (IDI) was brought in to follow the money that paid for the gold mine’s expansion: AngloGold Ashanti received a loan from the South African bank Nedbank, which in turn had received financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Watch the video : Beneath the Surface: Leveraging the Power of Investors

This meant the IFC’s environmental and social performance standards applied to the Siguiri mine’s expansion. It opened the door for the affected communities, with support from CECIDE, MDT and IDI, to file a complaint in April 2017 to the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) of the World Bank Group. The CAO is the independent accountability mechanism for projects supported by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

The community’s complaint to the CAO led to a six-year long mediation process among the company and affected communities, with support from the NGOs, leading to a series of incremental wins and now a final settlement agreement.

This struggle for accountability is the product of years of hard work, dedication and persistence by local human rights defenders, continuously strengthening community solidarity, working to mobilize for rights in a hostile environment.

A victory that restores hope

Guinea is well known for its abundance of natural resources. The country has one of the world’s largest reserves of bauxite. This is the main material used to produce aluminum, a transition mineral important to moving away from fossil fuels. Mega mining projects are being initiated with the aim of boosting the country’s economy, such as the Simandou project for its so-called green steel. However, the promises of development often fail to be realized for the thousands of people living from the land’s resources sacrificed for these projects. Communities are very often forced to leave their homes either because they are forced out by the authorities, without any real resettlement or compensation, or driven away because the pollution caused by the projects threatens their health and livelihoods.

The Area One settlement agreement is an exceptional victory and a source of hope for the thousands of people who suffer the damages of investment projects in Guinea every day. Community tenacity over many years – despite threats and intimidation from government and the company – made this possible,” said Lien De Brouckere, advisor with The 11^th Hour Project since the start of this campaign, including the fact-finding mission in 2016 that laid the basis for the CAO complaint.

A part of the agreement’s significant financial settlement amount will be directly given to the affected families as individual compensation, and another part will be used to set up a fund to finance development and livelihood restoration projects implemented by the affected families.

The post Guinea: Long awaited justice for communities forcibly evicted for the Siguiri gold mine first appeared on Communities First.

Lien De Brouckere

The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) members gathered in February 2024 for the Electric Vehicle (EV) Battery Repair, Reuse and Repurpose Teach-In, to learn more about the electric vehicles (E V) battery supply chain, how they are recycled, and why design for repair, reuse, and repurpose is so important. Discussing Solution Pathways To Effective Repair, Reuse & Repurposing, Lien De Brouckere GAIA’s Global EV Waste Strategist & Advocate, made a presentation on how digital labeling for batteries can provide information crucial for their repair and repurposing.

What is a battery passeport

 The battery passport is a digital identifier in the form of a QR code or barcode supporting traceability throughout a battery’s lifecycle. It contains information on battery health, environmental, social, governance performance, manufacturing history, and origin details.  Created at the time of manufacture of the battery, passports are important as they enable repair, reuse, and recycling. However, under EU battery regulation for example, the battery passport has limited data. The passport includes key informations on label, dismantling, composition and the state of health of the battery, but this later is not publicly available.

Watch the video : Panel 3 – Solution Pathways To Effective Repair, Reuse & Repurposing

Various initiatives are underway at different levels to define the necessary information. In US, lawmakers are advocating for federal-level transparency in battery supply chains. In Europe, the EU Commission requires passports since 2024 for all sold batteries. Concerning manufacturers, Ford and the Global Battery Alliance are developing tracking systems, but access to state of health data remains limited through proprietary software, making very difficult for vehicle owners and third parties to access important information, such as the level of degradation and remaining capacity of the battery. Yet these data are important for users, especially when making decisions about repair, reuse, conversion and recycling, as shown in the figure below.  

Ensuring access to information for more responsible batteries

As batteries are generally taken out of use at 70 or 80% of its original capacity, it is essential that companies ensure they are repurposed for a second life and then disposed of in a responsible manner. This can be done by making available all information about environmental risks throughout the life cycle of batteries, such as detailed composition, disassembly and replacement instructions, history of use and any negative events that may have occurred during the use of the battery.

Manufacturers can go further, by supporting recycling and reuse efforts, distributing tools, repair training and guides. However, it will be crucial to avoid global inequalities, where wealthier nations dominate data collection while others are left out. The social and environmental responsibility of manufacturers must be assessed independently, in consultation with communities and according to strict verification standards.  A fair system ensures transparency and universal access to data for all.

The post Battery Labeling : How Digital Passports Can Contribute to Environmental Justice first appeared on Communities First.