The aim of the Initiative is to secure a binding multilateral agreement, by the end of 2009 that sets the world on a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 Prior to 1994 she was an anti-Apartheid activist involved in youth, union and gender organisations.

An educator by profession, she started her career in 1985, teaching English, History and Guidance at Glendale Senior Secondary in Mitchell's Plain, Western Cape.

In this portfolio she has been a staunch promoter of sustainable development and has piloted a number of new policies for the province, such as the Provincial Spatial Development Framework (PSDF), a Climate Change Response Strategy, a Sustainable Energy Strategy (SES) and Guidelines for Golf Estates, Polo Fields and Polo Estates.

She has also lectured on a number of international stages on matters such as the impacts of climate change, protecting the Cape's unique biodiversity and, more recently, has become recognised as a renewable energy champion.

After the Western Cape experienced electricity shortages in 2006 Premier Rasool initiated the Energy Risk Management Committee (a broad stakeholder forum).