-Dr. Mukesh Ghimire
Just Transition is a vision-led, unifying and place-based set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy. In other words, just transition means approaching production and consumption cycles holistically and waste free. The process of transition should be just and equitable, which should redress past harms and should create new relationships of power for the future through reparations. If the process of transition is not just, the outcomes will never be.
Thus, Just Transition describes both where we are going and how we go there. Just transition is generally regarded as the exclusive domain of trade unions and has its origin in the struggle of North American trade unions for programs supporting workers who lost their jobs because of environmental protection policies in the 1970s and 1980s. Just Transition mechanism is fairness in the process of transforming to a climate neutral economy into the most affected region from the implementation of climate-neutral transformation.
Energy Transition (ET) and Just Energy Transition (JET)
ET are shifts in the way people produce and consume energy using different technologies and sources. A low-carbon energy transition is a type of energy transition involving a shift from high-carbon energy sources such as oil, gas and coal to low-carbon and zero-carbon energy sources such as renewables.
JET is a negotiated vision and process centered on dialogue, supported by a set of guiding principles, to shift practices in energy production and consumption. It aims to minimize negative impacts on workers and communities with stakes in high-carbon sectors that will wind down, and to maximize positive opportunities for new decent jobs in the low-carbon growth sectors of the future. It strives to ensure that the costs and benefits of the transition are equitably shared. A “JET” refers to the shift towards a low-carbon economy while actively ensuring that the process is equitable, considering the social and economic impacts on communities.
Principles of Just Transition (JT) and JET
Eight Principles of JT: Buen Vivir (Live well without living better), Meaningful Work, Self Determination, Equitable Redistribution of Resources and Power, Regenerative Ecological Economics, Culture and Tradition, Solidarity, Builds What We Need Now
Eight Principles of JET: Climate ambition, NDC-SDG alignment, Decent work & resilience, Social equity, Gender equality, Due participation, Good governance, Human rights. Conceptually, JET is connected to the concept of energy justice which is disaggregated into distributional, procedural and recognition justice.
Recent Global Initiatives and Insights on JET
Global leaders during recent CoP 27 re-agree to limit global warming to less than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, while ensuring that the energy of the future is affordable, secure, and inclusive. However, current energy consumption and production account for about two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions, and 81% of the global energy mix is still based on fossil fuels – a percentage that has not budged in decades (World Economic Forum 2022). A transition to a more inclusive, sustainable, affordable, and secure global energy system is imperative. This must be done while balancing the energy triangle: security and access, environmental sustainability, and economic development.
IPCC AR6 report highlighted that the global CO2 emissions continue to rise at unprecedented levels, severely impacting humanity. Accelerating the energy transition is a key factor in increasing our ambitions to counteract this crisis. Moreover, in the acceleration towards a sustainable energy transition, we must embed justice. According to the 2030 Agenda particularly SDG7, we must ensure universal energy access while implementing energy transition, known as leaving no one behind. The key challenges for a just energy transition is: Countries own infrastructure challenges, Financing and Changes and shifts in technologies, jobs, and other economic opportunities.
World Economic Forum’s 2022 special edition index on energy transition highlighted the key insights on energy transition as: The energy transition is not keeping pace with the growing urgency for change, Lack of access to an affordable energy supply has emerged as a key threat to a just energy transition, Energy diversity- and security- are in short supply, Regulatory frameworks need to be strengthened to meet the moment, Demanding change increasingly means changing demand and Industrial-strength decarbonization requires industrial-strength collaborations.
IEA 2021 recommends four clusters for people-centered energy transitions which are: Decent jobs and worker protections, Social and economic development, Equity, social inclusion, and fairness and People as active participants. Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETP) are a new funding model created in 2021 to help South Africa, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, and Senegal transition away from fossil energy and toward clean energy in a way that also addresses social issues associated with such an energy transition. In recent days, JET has been synonymously considered as low carbon and equitable energy transition, people- centered energy transition, equitable and justified energy transition, etc.
Why Just Energy Transition is necessary, if not? Why?
In general, JET concept and approaches are needed for every country and economy. JET is needed mainly because of: Achieving energy security, Energy diversification, Moving towards renewable energy, Achieving SDGs and NDCs targets, Ensuring energy access, Addressing energy poverty, Addressing climate vulnerability, Ensuring climate justice, Creating harmony among different classes of society, Job security, Low-carbon energy transitions can take place in many different forms, from phasing out coal to reducing the carbon intensity of the electricity system and implementing energy efficiency standards in buildings.
Each country will need to define its own energy transition. While there is no universal recipe for how to implement JET, given their complexity and differences in local context, there are several political and communications strategies that can be adapted and used.
JET are extremely complexes and context specific. Dialogue, participation, and engagement of stakeholders are the key for implementing JET. The negative and positive impacts of unmanaged and managed transition are described as:
Negative Impacts of unmanaged transition: Job losses in fossil fuel industries and businesses around them, Economic decline of regions, Loss of community culture and identity, Loss of stable and strongly unionized jobs
Positive Impacts of managed transition: New jobs in new industries, skill development, Possibility to replace dangerous and unhealthy jobs (e.g.in mines) with new and safer employment, Economic development and diversification, in affected or other regions, Potential to reinvent regions or communities with new identities, Potential to build up labor representation in new industries
Four Strategies to achieve JET:
Acting early can make energy transitions less costly and more just. IISD and Global Subsidies Initiative (2018) recommended following four ‘how to’ strategies for JET. The summary of steps to initiate the JET has been outlined below.
a. Understanding the context: Map the political economy of an energy transition, Use detailed analyses of positive and negative impacts of an energy transition
b. Identifying champions: Facilitate international and regional exchange and peer learning between countries at different stages of energy transition processes, including engagement with labor, businesses, civil society, especially for developing country context, Round tables at the country level to start or enhance a conservation on a just transition between all concerned stakeholders, High level dialogue between countries in similar situations to promote the idea of a just transition at the highest levels of government
c. Making the case: Develop communications strategies for just energy transition, Setup inclusive processes for two-way communications, Train government officials in communications
d. Implementing just transition measures: Promote localized green jobs, including in decentralized energy and energy efficiency, and link this explicitly to the energy transition, mobilize additional funding to promote visible and tangible just transition measures, and communicate about the benefits, Share best practices of just transition measures
Few examples of implementation of JET
Many countries are implementing JET initiatives for their specific goals and targets. A few country and case specific examples are discussed here, where JET is being implemented mainly from energy justice perspectives.
Poland: Coal sector transformation and just transition measures to support ex-miners; Impact- Three quarters of overall jobs lost since 1990, while high subsidies persist; Context- A state-controlled sector with strong unions; Complimentary policy- From golden handshakes to reviving mining communes
India: A coal transition in the making? Developing prospects for 1.2 million coal workers; Impact- Coal sector workers will be affected; Context- A soaring renewables sector with employment benefits; Complimentary policy- Starting a dialogue on just transition now to lay the Foundations.
Indonesia: Financing development with fossil fuel subsidies; Impact- Potential higher fuel prices for Indonesians, but positive development outcomes in the long-term; Context- Swift changes from a leader in his honeymoon period at a time when energy prices cooperate; Complimentary policy- Massive investments in social programs, infrastructure and rural development.
[The author is currently working as Deputy Director at the Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC)]
