The Three Ps

This guide by Natural Justice outlines a Just Energy Transition (JET) framework for African communities based on the "Three Ps": Principles, Policies and laws, and Practicalities. It advocates for energy democracy, community-owned renewable energy, and the application of environmental and restorative justice to ensure that the transition to clean energy does not repeat historical patterns of exploitation. The framework emphasizes the necessity of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), the right to a healthy environment, and the need for climate reparations and grants from the Global North to address energy inequality and historical carbon emissions.

• The document argues that Africa requires a specific Just Energy Transition (JET) framework because existing guides are often general or based on narratives from the Global North, failing to account for the unique African context where JET is often more about "energy development" than transitioning away from existing fossil fuel production.
• Natural Justice proposes a framework based on the "Three Ps": Principles, Policies and laws, and Practicalities. This framework aims to ensure communities are equal partners in the transition and do not pay the price for it, emphasizing that they should never be "worse off after a transition."
• The framework defines energy justice through four dimensions: distributive justice (fair distribution of costs and benefits), recognitional justice (respecting needs and histories), procedural justice (inclusive decision-making), and restorative justice (redressing historical injustices).
• The document advocates for "Energy Democracy," defined as a renewable energy system governed by people with a focus on community control. This includes models like Community-owned Renewable Energy (CORE) and Socially-owned Renewable Energy (SORE), which allow communities to generate their own power and potentially earn income through feed-in tariffs.
• Crucial legal principles for a just transition include Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), which gives indigenous and local communities the right to give or withhold consent to projects without pressure, and the right to a healthy environment, which is recognized in the constitutions of countries such as Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, and Senegal.
• The document identifies several potential downfalls of the JET, including the risk that mining for transition minerals (such as copper and cobalt) could repeat the environmental and human rights abuses seen in fossil fuel mining, and the danger of governments and communities entering into unsustainable debt through loans rather than grants.
• The guide calls for reparations from the Global North to Africa, noting that developed countries have historically contributed the most to carbon emissions while consuming significantly more energy. It suggests a "global south energy equalisation fund" to subsidize energy access and technology transfer.
• To ensure community benefit, the document recommends Community Development Agreements or Local Benefit Agreements as conditions for new projects. These should prioritize local procurement, skills development, and the reskilling of workers from the declining fossil fuel sector.

APA

-1, Martens, C., & Nel, L. (n.d.). The Three Ps. Natural Justice. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-3-Ps_JET-Framework-Community-Booklet_Digital_FA_final.pdf

Chicago

-1, Claire Martens, and Lauren Nel. The Three Ps. Natural Justice, n.d. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-3-Ps_JET-Framework-Community-Booklet_Digital_FA_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=-1 |last2=Martens |first2=Claire |last3=Nel |first3=Lauren |title=The Three Ps |publisher=Natural Justice |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-3-Ps_JET-Framework-Community-Booklet_Digital_FA_final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{1ndthree, author = {-1 and Martens, Claire and Nel, Lauren}, title = {{The Three Ps}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-3-Ps_JET-Framework-Community-Booklet_Digital_FA_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }