CEO Insight: Just Transitions to Net Zero: Championing Equity and Justice at COP28
Today marks the beginning of COP28 in Dubai, where delegates from around the world are convening once again to deliberate on climate change. This year, delegates will reflect on the first Global Stocktake, assessing our collective progress towards meeting the Paris Agreement’s temperature targets, and charting a course for the future. The gathering of world leaders for COP is intrinsically linked with SDG 13: Climate Action, which urges communities to protect the planet and address the already damning effects of climate change.
A key method of achieving the Paris Agreement is to increase renewable energy sources, with previous COPs pressing for a move away from fossil fuels. The UAE Presidency has echoed this in his vision for COP28, seeking to accelerate the transition of economies to low-carbon pathways. However, he also specified that the transition must be “both transformational and just”. This reference to justice reflects the principle of just transition, enshrined in the preamble of the Paris Agreement.
Although definitions vary, just transition seeks to ensure decarbonisation occurs in a way that is fair, inclusive, and leaves nobody behind. Per the International Labour Organisation’s seminal guidelines, a just transition involves consulting with stakeholders, pursuing equitable outcomes, creating coherent policies, and providing decent jobs.
Minimising Harm through a Just Transition
The rationale behind just transition is strong when accounting for the significant potential impacts of energy transformation on people across the globe. As the IPCC has noted, “[m]itigation at all costs, if done ‘cheaply and crudely’, can create additional problems for social justice and inclusive development”.
Fossil fuel-dependent economies will face many challenges, including large-scale job losses and stranded infrastructure assets. Pivoting from traditional sources of energy also raises energy security, accessibility, and affordability concerns, impacting equity at global, national, and local scales. Furthermore, developing renewable energy poses its own challenges, as the provision of new infrastructure and extraction of raw materials can harm local communities. For instance, nickel mining for electric vehicles has impacted local land rights in Indonesia. Also, the impacts of infrastructure like hydroelectric dams and wind energy on the livelihoods of affected communities is well documented.
Equity concerns also stem from the fact that the burdens of the energy transition will disproportionately fall on the most vulnerable, particularly in the Global South. Under the international climate regime, the Green Climate Fund partly seeks to address this dynamic, utilising climate finance to support developing countries with their climate goals. More recently, France, Germany, the UK, the United States, and the European Union have committed to financing the transition of coal-dependent emerging economies, such as South Africa and Vietnam, via Just Energy Transition Partnerships. These equity-based finance mechanisms will be a key focus area at COP28, with the Presidency marking climate finance as a “pivotal cross-cutting theme”.
Improving Lives through a Just Transition
Beyond mitigating harm, just transition also offers an exciting opportunity for development, by growing green economies and improving lives around the world. The co-benefits of pursuing development goals with decarbonisation objectives are exemplified by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), whereby 17 goals work in tandem. Specifically, climate action (SDG 13) and affordable clean energy (SDG 7) must be pursued alongside other goals, such as decent work, economic growth (SDG 8), poverty eradication (SDG 1), and gender equality (SDG 5).
Furthermore, the UN views climate action and the SDGs as “inextricably intertwined”, suggesting that efforts under both regimes should be complementary, finding synergies and mitigating trade-offs for a just transition. The work to identify synergies has already begun, with UNEP recently highlighting the potential for the energy transition in Africa to increase GDP, whilst also achieving multidimensional benefits such as higher employment and social cohesion. In fact, Morocco has been using its solar and wind energy strategy to mitigate climate change as well as create employment and enhance technological capacity. Furthermore, studies have identified the health benefits of the energy transition, highlighting its potential to reduce mortality rates in India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Indonesia.
Adhering to just processes
Just transition is as much about the process and nature of transition, as it is about achieving equitable low-carbon outcomes. Just transition demands careful consideration of how to consult with affected parties and meaningfully engage with those parties in a way that is both fair and inclusive.
Leading by example, COP28 is being promoted as the “most accessible and inclusive COP” to date, for its pre-engagement with diverse groups of people. This is a necessary move that has been echoed by other countries, with Costa Rica establishing a system of governance to capture the voices of women, young people, indigenous people, and afro-descendant communities. Canada, specifically Alberta, is also phasing out coal through a process of engagement with employees, First Nations peoples, and local communities. Conversely, countries are being held accountable for alleged failures on just transition, with a regional Chilean government challenging a lithium mine on the basis that the process for its approval failed to adequately consult the public and assess the impacts of the mine.
Lawyers are pathfinders on the journey to net zero
At its core, just transition shows us that there are many roads to net zero, but that not all are equal. Identifying which pathways are just and inclusive can be challenging. However, lawyers can help us get there. As policymakers, advisers, and advocates, lawyers can find equitable pathways, ensure just processes are adhered to, and help us realise the co-benefits of greening economies. Through this work, lawyers play an important role in designing and executing a just energy transition across clients from different industries, civil society, and governments at every level.
A4ID’s belief in the power of the law to tackle climate change is further expressed in our SDG Legal Guide 13. The Guide articulates key action points for lawyers to respond to the multifaceted challenges climate change poses. With respect to just transition, experts have also produced a range of best practice guides, including on providing renewable energy, addressing the workforce, and on interventions across sectors.
At COP28, A4ID hopes to see the discussions on just transition grow which is why we are co-hosting two panel events with international firms CMS, Clifford Chance, Kirkland & Ellis, and Linklaters on how the legal sector can support the energy transition, including through the SDGs.
As the IPCC has poignantly noted, “[n]eglecting issues of justice will have implications for the pace, scale and quality of the transition”. A4ID looks forward to showcasing how lawyers can shepherd us through the world’s decarbonisation journey.
To hear more from legal experts about the just transition, sign up to our hybrid COP28 event: How the Law can Unite and Act to Deliver the UN SDGs, on 7 December. COP28: how the law can unite and act to deliver the UN SDGs (on24.com)
