Celebrating the Environmental Law Association of South Africa Student essay competition winners in 2024
We know how hard students work on their research, and we and we want them to reap the rewards…
The Environmental Law Association of South Africa (ELA) Student Essay Competition supports and promotes new voices and knowledge in the field of Environmental Law. It has been running since 2018. Entries are open to any student currently enrolled at a South African higher education institution (including undergraduate and postgraduate programs) and any former students who completed their studies in the year prior to the competition announcement. Essay must discuss environmental law/governance topics. Students need not, however, be studying law.
Entries closed on 5 July 2024.
The 2024 winners were…
Aleya Dugmore is currently a final-year LLB student at the University of Cape Town. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2022, majoring in Media, Writing, and Law. Aleya is a Candidate Fellow of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, which fosters entrepreneurial and leadership development. She previously co-founded and managed Uplift and Thrift, an online thrift store aimed at addressing over-consumption and promoting sustainable practices, with all proceeds donated to local non-profits.
Aleya has a deep interest in social justice, public interest law, and environmental law. She wrote her essay in fulfilment of the requirements for her Environmental Law elective. This course, led by Associate Professor Melanie Murcott and Dr. Denning Metuge, provided a comprehensive analysis of environmental law, examining both terrestrial and marine environments from international and national perspectives. Aleya will be commencing her articles of clerkship at Webber Wentzel in 2025.
Aleya’s essay, “Evaluating South Africa’s Climate Change Bill: Strengths, Omissions, and the Path Forward”, critically examined South Africa’s proposed Climate Change Bill, which was subsequently passed into law.
The Act is a pivotal piece of legislation aimed at addressing the climate crisis and aligning South Africa with its international obligations, particularly under the Paris Agreement. The essay unpacks the mechanisms and envisaged institutions contemplated by the Act. The essay highlights strengths, such as its commitment to a “just transition” and its framework for climate adaptation and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. However, it also identifies significant weaknesses, including the lack of specific penalties for non-compliance and an absence of financial mechanisms for effective implementation. Other notable omissions include the lack of enforceable timelines for achieving carbon neutrality and insufficient provisions for public participation in climate decision-making. Moreover, the failure to incorporate indigenous rights and embrace an ecocentric approach—granting intrinsic value to nature itself—is disappointing. The essay concludes that while the Climate Change Bill (now an Act) marks progress, substantial amendments are necessary to ensure its effectiveness in combating climate change and protecting vulnerable communities.
Johané Berry holds an LLB (cum laude) from Stellenbosch University, as well as an LLM in Environmental Law (cum laude) from the University of Cape Town. She was also awarded the UCT Law Faculty Postgraduate Prize in Environmental Law for being the top Environmental Law LLM student in the 2023 cohort. Johané has an immense passion for environmental matters, conservation of the planet’s resources and animal rights issues. In 2023, whilst pursuing her LLM, she gained exposure to South African land use planning law, pollution law and natural resources law, which further grew her interest in environmental law and inspired her to conduct further research into how the pollution impacts of factory farming are regulated in South Africa. She is currently completing her articles as a candidate attorney at a firm in Cape Town and hopes to build an impactful career in environmental law litigation and/or research in the coming years.
Johané’s essay, “The spectre of harm caused by factory farms and its regulation under South African pollution laws” was submitted in an LLM module convened by Associate Professor Melanie Murcott, Pollution Law.
Despite the slew of pollution and related harms caused by factory farming, South Africa’s pollution-related laws and subordinate legislative instruments do not adequately regulate the environmental impacts of factory farming. The law is thus upholding a form of “agricultural exceptionalism”. Factory farming is exempt from compliance with notable pollution-reduction measures contained in, inter alia, the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act 39 of 2004, the National Environmental Management: Waste Act 59 of 2008, and National Water Act 36 of 1998. In addition, the Carbon Tax Act 15 of 2019 envisages that emissions from animal agriculture will likely only be taxed after 2030, and the mitigation targets outlined in South Africa’s 2021 updated Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement do not explicitly address greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production. In the absence of adequate legislative regulation of the pollution impacts of factory farming, accountability litigation presents an alternative avenue to hold polluters involved in factory farming accountable. Arguments and rights claims used in litigation challenging coal-fired power can be levelled against factory farming. Two possible reforms with reference to global developments and scholarship are proposed – the imposition of a meat tax and a just transition away from industrial animal agriculture to more sustainable farming methods and plant-based diets.
What do the prize winners receive?
- The winner in each category receives:
- R3000 in cash
- one non-transferrable complimentary registration for an ELA conference, at which he/she/they may present their essay as a conference paper
- one year of free membership of ELA commencing from 1 January in the year following the competition.
- The winning essay will also be considered for publication in a relevant academic journal.
- Only one essay in the undergraduate category and one essay in the undergraduate category may be announced as the winner, and an essay may be awarded a runner-up prize if the panel deems this appropriate.
For details about previous competition winners, see here.
Prize winners were announced at our 2024 Student Conference.
CONGRATULATIONS!
About the competition
- Each year, the ELA Student Essay Competition seeks student essay submissions that are based on high-quality, cutting-edge scholarship on African environmental law and governance issues, including, but not limited to, the areas of climate change, mining, natural resources extraction, land use planning, human rights and the environment, and the rights of nature.
- The essays may be based on environmental law and governance issues arising from assignments, dissertations, or theses that have been submitted/are to be submitted for assessment in a unit/topic/subject at a South African higher education institution.
- The expected length of the essays is between 6,000 and 10,000 words. Referencing, such as the footnotes and bibliography, are NOT included in this length. If your essay exceeds the expected length, please edit it!
In 2024, the essay was run by Vice Chairperson, Nicola Irving, and North-West Representative, Meeschka Diedericks, and entries were adjudicated by a panel of expert judges who reviewed submissions on an anonymous basis, and had to declare any conflicts of interest.
Who could enter the competition?
- Any student who is enrolled in a South African higher education institution (undergraduate and postgraduate students).
- Former students who completed their studies in 2023.
Entries
Students submitted their entries via our Google form by close of business on 5 July 2024, following the competition rules below.
Competition rules
- A student is permitted one entry in the competition each year and a maximum of two entries in a period of five years.
- The essay must be original work, completed alone and unaided (except for ordinary input from the student’s supervisor). Co-authored papers will not be accepted.
- All entries must be submitted in Microsoft Word.
- Entrants are required to anonymize their submissions (in other words, your name, student number and other personal details should not appear on your essay, so that it can be assessed anonymously by our panel of judges).
- All entries must:
- submit a separate cover page upon which the following details are recorded: i. the student’s name; ii. an email address that the student can be contacted; iii. the higher education institution where the student is/was enrolled; iv. the name of the course of study that the student is enrolled in, indicating clearly whether this is a postgraduate or an undergraduate course of study.
- provide proof of enrollment (for 2023, if you have completed your studies, or 2024, if you are still a student).
- be submitted via https://forms.gle/HiZbWHY5Phduw5bC9.
- not contain any plagiarism or any artificial intelligence input.
- Students may use a recognised citation system required by your university school or faculty.
- The ELA Executive will appoint a panel of independent environmental law experts to review all entries and select the winning entry.
Questions?
Email us at with the subject ESSAY COMPETITION 2024.