Global Guidance for Just Transition Policy

In 2015, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted Guidelines for a Just Transition Towards Environmentally Sustainable Economies and Societies for All, providing authoritative and valuable international guidance for just transitions. CCSI has conducted a comparative analysis of the application of the ILO Guidelines in South Africa and Germany and examined the extent to which the ILO Guidelines address energy transition challenges facing developing countries.

The CCSI Report Global Guidance for Just Transition Policy provides detailed context on South Africa’s and Germany’s national socio-political and energy conditions and policies, and comprehensively examines the legal and policy instruments adopted by both countries—the Just Transition Framework in South Africa and the Coal Exit Laws in Germany—and their application of the ILO Guidelines. Both countries historically relied on domestic coal production and are forerunners in national-level just transition policymaking in their respective regions.

The accompanying CCSI Policy Brief summarizes the comparison between South Africa’s and Germany’s just transition policies and the ILO Guidelines. It also summarizes CCSI’s findings and recommendations to shape further guidance on just energy transition policymaking from international institutions to support developing countries in 12 key areas:

1. Government institutional capacity and corruption
2. Participation of affected groups in policy making
3. Decent employment
4. Green industry and economic diversification
5. Social protection
6. Skills development and training
7. Effective phase-out of fossil fuel production, use, and subsidies
8. International cooperation and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities
9. Human rights
10. Access to affordable and sustainable energy
11. Adequate finance
12. Environmental remediation and repurposing of former industrial sites