Uruguay: Leveraging Partnerships to Create Green Jobs and Ensure a Just Transition

This case study by the World Resources Institute examines Uruguay's transition to renewable electricity generation, highlighting the role of long-term policy planning, social dialogue with unions, and international partnerships in creating green jobs and managing the phase-out of fossil fuels.

• Uruguay implemented a long-term energy strategy via the Energy Policy 2005–2030 to diversify its renewable electricity mix and reduce reliance on imported oil, as hydropower became less reliable due to droughts. This resulted in renewable sources accounting for 98% of electricity generation by 2019, with wind power capacity growing 68-fold between 2010 and 2019 and increasing its share of generation from 1% to 30%.
• The transition supported significant green job growth and workforce adaptation. A 2016 assessment by the government and the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated the renewable energy sector had over 8,400 jobs, representing 19% of the country's 44,108 total green jobs. By 2018, employment in the renewable energy sector grew to more than 11,000 workers, an increase of approximately 2,600 since 2013.
• Uruguay utilized social dialogue and tripartite partnerships to manage the retirement of fossil-fuel capacity. Between 2014 and 2016, plants with a total of 575 MW of capacity were retired following negotiations with the national trade union center (PIT-CNT) and the energy workers’ union, which mitigated negative worker impacts primarily through early retirement.
• The transition has faced challenges related to the privatization of the electricity sector and labor disputes with foreign entities. Stakeholders have expressed concerns over lost public revenue, higher consumer prices, and lack of public control. In 2019, the departure of the Brazilian company Petrobras from MontevideoGas led to dismissals and a 24-hour solidarity strike by over 700,000 workers, which ended only after the government agreed to take over management of the company and secure workers' positions.
• Uruguay participated in an ILO Green Initiative pilot project (alongside Ghana and the Philippines) funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the ILO. This project focused on applying just transition guidelines, conducting research on employment impacts, and capacity-building for green job creation, with support from the UNDP and GIZ.

APA

World Resources Institute (2021). Uruguay: Leveraging Partnerships to Create Green Jobs and Ensure a Just Transition. https://www.wri.org/snapshots/uruguay-leveraging-partnerships-create-green-jobs-and-ensure-just-transition

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Uruguay: Leveraging Partnerships to Create Green Jobs and Ensure a Just Transition. 2021. https://www.wri.org/snapshots/uruguay-leveraging-partnerships-create-green-jobs-and-ensure-just-transition.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Uruguay: Leveraging Partnerships to Create Green Jobs and Ensure a Just Transition |date=1 April 2021 |url=https://www.wri.org/snapshots/uruguay-leveraging-partnerships-create-green-jobs-and-ensure-just-transition |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2021uruguay, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Uruguay: Leveraging Partnerships to Create Green Jobs and Ensure a Just Transition}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://www.wri.org/snapshots/uruguay-leveraging-partnerships-create-green-jobs-and-ensure-just-transition}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }