2024 ESG Forum: IDOS co-hosted plenary session on Just Transition

The plenary Session dove into particular case studies, including South Africa, Germany, the EU and Indonesia, to gauge the state of play on just energy transitions and equity concerns within them. It took place on 17 October during the Earth System Governance Forum.

Logo: ESG-Conference 14-18 October: "Re-imagining Earth System Governance

© Earth System Governance

IDOS co-hosted the Plenary Session entitled ‘Making ‘Just Transition’ happen: Exploring coalitions and partnerships for “just transition” at multiple levels of earth system governance’.

IDOS Researchers Dr Steffen Bauer and Dr Aparajita Banerjee moderated the session, which opened with a keynote address by Prof. J. Timmons Roberts from Brown University. He discussed the importance of integrating equity into climate action and climate change research. These insights were based on a paper by Klinsky et al. 2016, who argued that equity is essential given the obligation to address human wellbeing, the fact that understandings of justice are essential to political analysis, that there are not always tensions between equity and decisive climate action and that understanding trade-offs necessitates considering equity.

The session then explored specific case studies – South Africa, Germany, the EU, and Indonesia – to assess the state of play on just energy transitions and equity concerns within them. For example, Jordan McLean, a researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs, noted there is a vast finance gap in the South African Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and the fact that the little money allocated towards implementing just transition through concessional loans is channeled back to International Partner Group countries in buying renewable energy technologies from them.

IDOS Researcher Alexia Faus Onbargi then touched upon the German energy transition – the Energiewende – arguing that social justice concerns have been seemingly absent from policy around reducing greenhouse gas emissions and phasing in renewables, despite delivering on social justice in the coal exit process (due by 2038). Senior Lecturer Dr Marie Claire Brisbois from the University of Sussex, then discussed the energy transition within the broader EU, noting that legacy injustices from fossil-intensive industries – such as income inequality, poor health and environmental inequalities, as well as gender inequality – now interact with new injustices created as part of the transition. In addition, there is a great perception that the transition is being led by elites for elites within the EU.

Finally, Climate Justice Associate Sholahudin Al Ayubi from the Yayasan Indonesia Cerah (CERAH) spoke about the case of Indonesia, another JETP country, reflecting on how the change in recent political leadership in the country may shift political priorities from decarbonisation to rapid fossil fuel-based economic growth. Following some questions from the moderator, the session then moved to a critical appraisal and synthesis by Just Transition expert Prof. Dimitris Stevis from Colorado State University. Prof. Stevis summed up all the points succinctly and, among others, noted the importance of  considering the (in)justice ramifications not just of transitions away from fossil fuels, but also of transitions to renewable energies. In addition, equity concerns must be considered for workers not just in fossil fuel-intensive sectors, but also along the entire supply chain and for the labour force in general. The session concluded with several questions from the floor, including an insightful discussion on the role of fossil fuel unions (especially coal) in co-opting decision-making processes around the just energy transition.

Leave Comment

Deine E-Mail-Adresse wird nicht veröffentlicht. Erforderliche Felder sind mit * markiert