JET podcast spotlights Global South climate voices

JET — The Just Energy Transition Podcast has launched from Pretoria and is now streaming at jetvoices.com, with early episodes featuring climate activists and clean-energy thinkers from Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria and across the continent. The series aims to center the human side of the energy transition and the communities most affected by the shift from fossil fuels.

Why it matters: - JET is built to amplify activists, researchers and practitioners shaping a fair shift from fossil fuels to clean energy. - The podcast puts a particular focus on the Global South, where the costs and benefits of the transition are playing out on the ground. - The series frames the energy transition as a people-centered issue, not just a technology or finance story.

What happened: - JET — The Just Energy Transition Podcast launched in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa, on June 24, 2026. - The interview series is hosted by Dr Andani Thakhathi and is available at jetvoices.com. - The launch lineup includes Hilda Flavia Nakabuye, Stefano Semprini, Lazola Kati, Prince Israel Orekha, Chris Ssali and Mkhululi Nkosi Ncube. - The opening episode features Hilda Flavia Nakabuye, the Ugandan climate campaigner who founded Fridays for Future in Uganda. - A second launch episode features Stefano Semprini in a conversation titled "Learning from Nature."

The details: - Each episode centers on one guest in an extended conversation about the human side of the energy transition. - The podcast explores the risks, setbacks and practical work involved in building a cleaner economy. - JET takes its name from the idea that the move to renewable energy must be a Just Energy Transition, meaning equitable in both costs and benefits. - Nakabuye's episode, "The Risks Climate Activists Face," focuses on the personal cost of frontline organizing and community mobilization in East Africa. - Semprini's episode draws on biomimicry, the practice of modeling human systems on designs found in nature, to examine clean energy and regenerative design. - Four more first-season guests are confirmed for release in the coming weeks: Lazola Kati, fossil ad ban campaign coordinator at Fossil Free South Africa; Prince Israel Orekha, executive director of Connected Advocacy in Nigeria; Chris Ssali of United for Climate Justice Uganda; and Mkhululi Nkosilamandla Ncube of the African Minerals Development Centre. - The podcast is produced independently and hosted by Dr Andani Thakhathi, founder of the Ubuntuverse Institute, a research organization focused on a just, clean and green energy transition in Africa and beyond. - New episodes are available on the podcast website and across major platforms. - Listeners can watch on the official YouTube channel at @jetvoices, follow on Instagram at @jetvoices, and stream the launch episode on Spotify. - More information is available on the podcast's contact page and LinkedIn page at JET Voices.

Between the lines: - The guest list suggests the show is trying to build a continent-wide climate network rather than focus on one country or one discipline. - The format signals a bet on long-form conversation, which can surface nuance that short news clips often miss. - Centering frontline voices from the Global South also positions the podcast as a corrective to climate coverage that can overemphasize institutions in the Global North.

What's next: - JET plans to release four additional first-season episodes in the coming weeks. - The podcast will continue publishing on its website and major streaming platforms as it expands its audience. - The launch suggests future episodes will keep pairing climate practice with lived experience, especially from Africa and the broader Global South. - The bottom line: JET is launching as a niche climate podcast with a broad ambition — to make just energy transition debates more personal, more regional and more grounded in the people doing the work.