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A Moment for Just Transition
Context:
In April 2024, in MK Ranjitsinh and Others vs Union of India, the Supreme Court of India recognised a fundamental right against the adverse impacts of climate change.
What is just transition?
- The concept emerged in the 1970s as a tool to protect workers whose jobs were being threatened by increasing environmental regulation.
- It aims to make mitigative climate action inclusive and fair, i.e. it seeks to ensure that the burdens and benefits of decarbonisation are distributed equitably.
- The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines it this way: “Greening the economy in a way that is as fair and inclusive as possible to everyone concerned, creating decent work opportunities and leaving no one behind.”
- In 2015, it was included in the international treaty on climate change, the Paris Agreement.
- In addition to workers, Just Transition encompasses other persons in vulnerable situations, including indigenous communities, women, children, and minorities.
- Accordingly, thus far, the concept only includes affected human beings. Notably, despite its vulnerability to climate change, the non-human environment has not been recognised as a subject of just transition.
Advantages of a just transition:
- Bringing the public along: Governments can build a broad base of public support for higher climate ambition as citizens will be more likely to get behind the associated policies and investments.
- Green Jobs: These quality jobs will lift people, their families, and their communities. But they will also help attract the workers needed for the economic transformation.
- Resilient net-zero economy: Governments can minimise the fear, opposition, and inter-community and generational conflict that may upend the move away from fossil fuels.
- Local solutions: Countries can better understand the impacts (positive and negative) of bold climate action and then identify the best solutions for their context.
- Reinforcing the urgency of combating climate change will help leaders stay focused on rapid decarbonisation’s urgent task while also striving for fair and inclusive outcomes.
- Achieving SDGs: It also helps advance progress against all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably those related to affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, reduced inequalities, and responsible production and consumption.
Challenges:
- Lack of clarity and consensus.
- Lack of data on the benefits of a green transition and the impacts of different policies on different segments of society.
- Lack of national capacity (to develop the required policies but also fill the skills gaps).
- Inadequate investment.
Solutions:
UNDP is helping governments address these challenges as part of their short- and long-term climate plans through four key areas of support:
- conducting qualitative and quantitative assessments;
- support for enhanced social dialogue;
- institutional, policy, and capacity-building;
- accessing/attracting needed finance.
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Countries are leading the Way Countries like Serbia, Costa Rica, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Antigua and Barbuda, and India are building a solid evidence base for just transition by conducting qualitative and quantitative assessments (including economic modelling) of the socioeconomic impacts of a green transition. |
