Climate Transparency – Just Transition Initiative

Summary

This report from Climate Transparency reviews climate actions by the Group of Twenty (G20) states, assessing their transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient economies. The report questions whether the G20 countries are on track to meet Paris Agreement goals, documenting leaders and laggards.

The report finds that current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) would lead to a global temperature increase of around 3.2 degrees Celsius. The authors outline the progress made by G20 countries since the Paris Agreement based on several decarbonization indicators. They criticize nearly all G20 countries for not implementing climate mitigation policies more aggressively, calling on them to institute a 50% emissions cut by 2030 to reach Paris Agreement goals.

The report analyzes several just transition initiatives in G20 countries to identify lessons learned. In Canada, for example, a federal task force developed a just transition plan for coal workers and communities, and the Chinese government seeks to allocate $4.5 billion over the next three years to support the closure of small coal mines. Australia, on the other hand, negotiated a comprehensive agreement with the Victoria government and three privately owned power stations to reduce job losses rather than manage their effects.

Summary

This report examines Mexico’s energy transition and its associated challenges and opportunities. The energy transition is largely driven by efforts to achieve the climate change mitigation targets outlined in Mexico’s nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement, reduce electricity-generation costs, and address the social and environmental inequalities of the current energy system. The authors seek to broaden the scope of the discourse on energy transitions and incorporate social and environmental dimensions in the decision-making process.

The paper urges policymakers to incorporate mechanisms for participation, consultation, and co-design of the policies. The authors criticize the lack of social inclusion in policy reforms so far and provide recommendations for future social inclusion through engagement with local governments. While acknowledging that the energy transition will inevitably result in winners and losers, the authors make a series of policy recommendations to help the Mexican government reach its climate change mitigation goals in a fair way, including by creating socially inclusive spaces to allow participation in the energy sector, especially at the local level.