Planning and implementing just transitions: opportunities for South-South cooperation

The document argues that while North-South just energy transition partnerships are innovative, they are limited by issues of financing, local ownership, and equity. South-South cooperation (SSC) is presented as a complementary approach that can foster peer learning and context-specific, justice-centred solutions focusing on energy access, job creation, and socio-political inclusion. The brief highlights South Africa and Colombia as examples of countries facing transition challenges with untapped potential for cooperation in mine closure, green industrialization, and community benefit-sharing.

• North-South just energy transition partnerships, while designed to support low-carbon transitions with social justice, are hindered by constraints regarding financing, equity in implementation, and local ownership.
• South-South cooperation provides a complementary path to just transitions by enabling the sharing of technical expertise and the development of solutions tailored to similar socio-economic and governance challenges, moving beyond the techno-economic framing of donor-led agendas to include energy access and job creation.
• South Africa and Colombia both face challenges in implementing just transitions and possess significant untapped opportunities for mutual cooperation in institutional coordination, green industrialization, mine closure, and community benefit-sharing.

APA

Arond, E., Strambo, C., Corral, F., & Burton, J. (2025). Planning and implementing just transitions: opportunities for South-South cooperation. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/publications/south-south-cooperation-for-just-transitions/

Chicago

Arond, Elisa, Claudia Strambo, Felipe Corral, and Jesse Burton. Planning and implementing just transitions: opportunities for South-South cooperation. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2025. https://www.sei.org/publications/south-south-cooperation-for-just-transitions/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Arond |first1=Elisa |last2=Strambo |first2=Claudia |last3=Corral |first3=Felipe |last4=Burton |first4=Jesse |title=Planning and implementing just transitions: opportunities for South-South cooperation |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=28 October 2025 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/south-south-cooperation-for-just-transitions/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{arond2025planning, author = {Arond, Elisa and Strambo, Claudia and Corral, Felipe and Burton, Jesse}, title = {{Planning and implementing just transitions: opportunities for South-South cooperation}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/south-south-cooperation-for-just-transitions/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }