Just Transition Framework: Connecting International Support with National Implementation

The report identifies seven recurring patterns where international climate support reproduces structural barriers in the Global South, such as prioritising technical infrastructure over social protection and centralising decision-making power. Based on analysis of Chile, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, and Vietnam, it argues that Just Transition efforts are hindered by labour informality, contested land rights, and a lack of subnational delivery capacity. The framework recommends that the JTWP embed social requirements in finance, strengthen subnational institutions, develop justice-aligned data systems, shift from consultation to co-decision, and address the extractive dynamics of green supply chains.

• Climate finance architecture systematically prioritises technical and infrastructure investments over social dimensions, often extending the logic of structural adjustment and development lending.
• There is a significant gap between national-level Just Transition commitments and the capacity of subnational governments to implement them, as international support typically flows through national institutions.
• Participatory mechanisms in the studied countries often provide extensive consultation but fail to transfer substantive decision-making authority over budgets and project design to affected communities.
• Data deficits render vulnerable populations, particularly those in informal labour markets, invisible to policy and resource allocation, a problem rooted in colonial-era statistical systems.
• International partnerships like Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) provide large-scale resources but can introduce debt burdens and skew national focus toward partnership-linked projects rather than economy-wide needs.
• Green supply chains for critical minerals and carbon markets often reproduce extractive dynamics, where the environmental and social costs of decarbonising advanced economies are borne by producing countries.
• Just Transition policies lack institutional durability, making them vulnerable to political transitions, governance restructuring, and budget collapses due to a lack of legislative anchoring.
• Labour informality and contested land and resource rights are two overarching structural conditions that amplify injustices across the studied countries.

APA

Harry, S. J. (2026). Just Transition Framework: Connecting International Support with National Implementation. Climate Strategies. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Just-Transition-Framework-260326.pdf

Chicago

Harry, Steven J. Just Transition Framework: Connecting International Support with National Implementation. Climate Strategies, 2026. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Just-Transition-Framework-260326.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Harry |first1=Steven J. |title=Just Transition Framework: Connecting International Support with National Implementation |publisher=Climate Strategies |date=2026 |url=https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Just-Transition-Framework-260326.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{harry2026just, author = {Harry, Steven J.}, title = {{Just Transition Framework: Connecting International Support with National Implementation}}, institution = {Climate Strategies}, year = {2026}, url = {https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Just-Transition-Framework-260326.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }