The Fundamentals of Just Energy Transition

Just Transition is a vision-led, inclusive framework designed to shift economies from extractive to regenerative models. This approach promotes holistic, waste-free production and consumption cycles while ensuring equity and fairness. The transition process must address past injustices and establish new power relationships through reparations. Without a just process, the outcomes cannot be truly just.

Just Transition outlines both the destination and the journey. It has historically been linked to trade unions, emerging from North American labor movements in the 1970s and 1980s advocating for workers affected by environmental regulations. The Just Transition mechanism ensures fairness in transitioning to a climate-neutral economy, particularly in the regions most impacted by climate policies.

Energy Transition (ET) and Just Energy Transition (JET)

Energy Transition (ET) refers to shifts in how energy is produced and consumed, favoring sustainable technologies over fossil fuels. A low-carbon energy transition prioritizes renewables over oil, gas, and coal.

Just Energy Transition (JET) is a structured process that includes dialogue and guiding principles to minimize negative effects on workers and communities dependent on high-carbon industries. It seeks to equitably distribute costs and benefits, ensuring economic opportunities in emerging low-carbon sectors. JET is characterized by its commitment to a fair, inclusive shift towards sustainable energy.

Principles of Just Transition (JT) and Just Energy Transition (JET)

Just Transition is guided by eight key principles: Buen Vivir (living well sustainably), meaningful work, self-determination, equitable resource distribution, regenerative ecological economics, cultural and traditional preservation, solidarity, and immediate constructive action.

Just Energy Transition aligns with climate ambition, sustainable development goals (SDGs), decent work, social equity, gender equality, public participation, good governance, and human rights. It is fundamentally linked to energy justice, which includes distributional, procedural, and recognition justice.

Global Initiatives on Just Energy Transition

At COP27, global leaders reaffirmed their commitment to limiting temperature rise to below 1.5°C while ensuring energy remains accessible, secure, and inclusive. However, energy production and consumption still contribute to two-thirds of global emissions, with fossil fuels comprising 81% of the energy mix (World Economic Forum, 2022). A sustainable, affordable, and secure energy system is necessary, balancing security, environmental sustainability, and economic development.

The IPCC AR6 report warns of rising CO2 emissions, emphasizing the need for accelerated energy transitions embedded with justice. The SDG7 goal underscores the importance of universal energy access within this transition. Key challenges include infrastructure constraints, financing gaps, and technological and workforce shifts.

The World Economic Forum’s 2022 energy transition index highlights major barriers: slow transition pace, unaffordable energy access, energy security concerns, weak regulatory frameworks, and insufficient demand-side reforms. Industrial decarbonization requires strong collaboration and policy support.

Strategies for Implementing Just Energy Transition

The International Energy Agency (IEA, 2021) recommends four core pillars for a people-centered energy transition: decent jobs, social and economic development, fairness, and public engagement. The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) model, launched in 2021, supports South Africa, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, and Senegal in transitioning from fossil fuels while addressing social impacts.

A structured approach to JET includes:

Understanding the Context: Analyzing political and economic factors, mapping potential impacts, and engaging stakeholders.

Identifying Champions: Facilitating peer learning, high-level dialogues, and labor-business partnerships.

Building Support: Developing communication strategies, fostering public engagement, and training policymakers.

Implementing Measures: Promoting green jobs, mobilizing financial resources, and sharing best practices.

Country-Specific JET Implementations

Several nations are implementing JET policies tailored to their unique challenges:

Poland: Transforming the coal sector while supporting displaced miners, balancing job losses with economic support.

India: Preparing for a coal transition affecting 1.2 million workers, integrating employment growth in renewables.

Indonesia: Redirecting fossil fuel subsidies to long-term development initiatives, balancing short-term price fluctuations with social investments.

The Imperative for Just Energy Transition

A just energy transition is essential for achieving energy security, diversifying resources, advancing renewables, meeting SDG and NDC targets, ensuring universal energy access, addressing climate justice, and promoting economic stability. Managed transitions generate new jobs, safer working conditions, and economic diversification, while unmanaged transitions risk job losses, regional economic decline, and social instability.

While JET strategies must be context-specific, early action, inclusive dialogue, and robust policies will make transitions smoother and more equitable. Governments must take proactive steps to implement JET frameworks, ensuring sustainable energy systems that benefit all stakeholders.