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Event

Just Transitions: From Aspiration to Action

The event focused on tools and strategies to strengthen just transition planning and implementation.
Last Updated November 30, 2020
Sep
22
2020
This event has already occurred.
Video Available

Just Transition: from Aspiration to Action was hosted by CSIS and CIF as part of Climate Week NYC. Despite the growing recognition of its importance, few resources are available to countries, investors, civil society, and international development institutions seeking to achieve a just transition.

This event focused on tools and strategies that can be deployed in support of just transition planning and implementation. The first session covered the challenges of gender inequality and informal labor in just transitions, including green jobs programs and issues related to energy access. The second session explored place-based investment strategies and regional development plans, with a focus on operational issues and key metrics used to analyze investments and their social and economic impacts.

Download Post-event Q&A

Participants

Sarah Ladislaw

Senior Vice President; Director and Senior Fellow, Energy Security and Climate Change Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Ben Cahil

Ben Cahill

Senior Fellow, Energy Security and Climate Change Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Mafalda Duarte

Mafalda Duarate

CEO, Climate Investment Funds

Ana Sanchez

Ana Sanchez

Regional Green Jobs Specialist for Latin America, International Labor Organization

Hubert Strauss

Hubert Strauss

Lead Economist, Regional Development Division, European Investment Bank

Barbara Rambousek

Barbara Rambousek

Director, Gender and Economic Inclusion, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Carolina Herrera

Carolina Herrera

Green Finance and Climate Change, Latin America Project, Natural Resources Defense Council

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This event was made possible by support from the Climate Investment Funds.

Related
from the Resource Library

Report/Guidelines, Strategies and Recommendations
Jun 2020

The EBRD Just Transition Initiative: Sharing the Benefits of a Green Economy Transition and Protecting Vulnerable Countries, Regions and People from Falling behind

This paper sets out the aims, rationale, and broad approach to implementation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s just transition initiative.

Geographic Scope
Europe
Sectors
General
Detail
Focus Areas
Economic diversification/restructuring > Economic development plans, Industry and/or sector assistance or plans, Infrastructure investment
Employment > Job creation and/or equality, Skills, Social protections
Environment and/or pollution > Nature
Inequality and/or poverty > Other
Investment > Competitiveness, Private finance, Stranded assets
Social and/or cultural impacts > Non-financial loss, Pride or cultural identity
Keywords
social inclusion
infrastructure investment
climate policy
private sector
coal assets
strategic and regional planning
coronavirus
environmental reclamation
green economy
just transition diagnostic
environmental legacies
Publishing Organization
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Development finance institution
Summary

This paper examines how the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will support progress in the economies where it invests. The paper outlines the aims, rationale, and broad approach to implementation of the EBRD’s just transition initiative, which aims to help the bank’s regions share the benefits of a green economic transition and to protect vulnerable countries, regions, and people from falling behind. The initiative builds on the EBRD’s experience of fostering transition toward sustainable, well-functioning market economies and focuses on the link between the green economy and economic inclusion. Working with national and regional authorities, EBRD clients, and other partners, the initiative emphasizes policy and commercial financing interventions that support a green transition while also assisting workers (particularly those whose livelihoods are linked to fossil fuels) in accessing new opportunities.

The paper includes an overview of the EBRD’s emerging just transition diagnostic and metrics for screening investments. This approach helps the bank screen certain regions and industries for vulnerabilities, assess the potential for various investments to advance just transition objectives and the bank’s core goals, and develop a set of policies and investment activities. This framework is especially useful in demonstrating how development finance institutions can link individual investments with broader regional plans, including in place-based investment.

Brief/Guidelines, Strategies and Recommendations
Dec 2017

Green Initiative Policy Brief: Gender, Labor, and a Just Transition towards Environmentally Sustainable Economic and Societies for All

This brief summarizes climate-related challenges to gender equality in the world of work and emphasizes the need to achieve greater gender equality through transitions to a low-carbon, sustainable economy.This brief summarizes climate-related challenges to gender equality in the world of work and emphasizes the need to achieve greater gender equality through transitions to a low-carbon, sustainable economy.

Geographic Scope
Global
Sectors
General
Detail
Focus Areas
Employment > Job creation and/or equality, Social protections, Worker safety
Inequality and/or poverty > Gender inequality
Social and/or cultural impacts > Other
Keywords
informal economy
disproportionate climate impacts
agriculture
care work
Publishing Organization
International Labor Organization (ILO)
Inter-governmental/international organization, Labor organization
Summary

This brief provides a high-level summary of the challenges that women in the world of work face as a result of climate change, both now and within the framework of worsening, future climate impacts. It also warns against the negative effects of excluding or overlooking the needs of women when enacting climate mitigation and adaptation measures.

The authors explore these challenges in the context of formal labor, informal agricultural labor, and unpaid household and care work. They suggest that the transition to low-carbon and sustainable economies offers an opportunity to address existing and emerging inequalities and vulnerabilities, secure and protect fundamental workplace rights, and empower women by ensuring their essential contribution to the stimulation of green growth.

To achieve these goals, the authors encourage greater engagement on the issues of gender, labor, and climate change. Furthermore, they encourage policymakers to include specific goals in transition planning regarding equal opportunities for and treatment of women and men.

Brief/Guidelines, Strategies and Recommendations
Jan 2020

The Just Transition Fund: 4 Benchmarks for Success

This brief recommends a governance structure for the European Union’s Just Transition Fund in an attempt to accelerate climate neutrality.

Geographic Scope
European Union
Sectors
General
Detail
Focus Areas
Government intervention > Public finance, Regulation
Keywords
Central and Eastern European countries
phase-out plan
climate neutrality goal
By
Rebekka Popp, Pieter de Pous
Publishing Organization
E3G
Academic/research institution or journal
Summary

The European Commission developed a Just Transition Fund as part of the European Green Deal to provide financial support to its member states in transitioning to a low-carbon economy or carbon neutrality. This brief recommends a governance structure for the fund to ensure it complements the entire EU budget, accelerates economy-wide decarbonization, and helps close the low carbon gap between Eastern and Western Europe.

Specifically, the authors issue several recommendations for the fund: prioritize coal and carbon-intensive regions while also focusing on the transition needs of the rest of the economy; require that member states propose a Paris Agreement–compatible plan to phase out heavy emissions activities, including coal mining; finance the development of just transition strategies, which can mobilize other finance mechanisms; and work toward a clear goal such as climate neutrality by 2050.

Report/Definitions and Concepts
Jun 2020

Just Transition Concepts and Relevance for Climate Action

This report explains the origins and evolution of just transitions, and offers a framework to represent the range of definitions as well as underlying ideologies and approaches.

Geographic Scope
Global
Sectors
General
Detail
Focus Areas
Investment > ESG and corporate engagement, Private finance
Justice
Social and/or cultural impacts > Non-financial loss
Keywords
definitions
conceptual framework
social inclusion
procedural justice
distributional justice
recognition
scope
scale
stakeholder perspectives
financing mechanisms
By
Ben Cahill, Mary Margaret Allen, Sarah Ladislaw
Publishing Organization
Center for Strategic and International Studies, Climate Investment Funds (CIF)
Academic/research institution or journal, Development finance institution
Summary

This report outlines the origins of just transitions in the US labor movement, the later adoption of the concept by the environmental and climate justice movements, and its role in international climate negotiations. The authors note that the term “just transitions” evokes a range of responses, from enthusiasm to confusion to outright skepticism, suggesting the need for a clear definition.

The paper presents a framework to capture the range of definitions and interpretations of just transitions. One key dimension is scope, including both distributional impacts—or who and what is affected in transitions—as well as intention (the ideological preference between reforming or transforming existing political and economic systems through just transitions). The other dimension in the framework is social inclusion, or the range of recognition and procedural justice for various groups. The framework does not seek to identify a single “correct” definitions of just transitions, but rather captures a range of ideologies and approaches to the concept.

A final section of the paper suggests that the next stage of just transitions work will be to advance solutions and to apply lessons learned. The authors list several priorities for future research including concrete tools and strategies, more case studies of developing countries, more effective social engagement, and new financing methods.