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Vietnam aims for net-zero emissions by 2050, targeting a 47% renewable energy share in electricity generation by 2030. While the country has integrated Just Transition principles into national strategies and secured a USD 15.5 billion commitment via the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), it faces significant gaps in governance, social protection, and workforce reskilling. The brief recommends establishing a National Just Transition Commission and expanding international finance to cover social dimensions beyond energy infrastructure.

The document argues that Universal Basic Income (UBI) in South Africa is a matter of justice rather than charity, asserting that it would unlock economic potential and provide a fairer social contract. It contends that UBI is more cost-effective and inclusive than targeted systems, which often suffer from high exclusion errors. The text suggests a UBI could start at the national food-poverty line of R796 per month or the food poverty line of R1 634 per month, with the latter having a gross cost of approximately R342 billion, though the net cost would be lower after tax returns and economic growth.

The report examines the impacts of coal phase-outs in East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, South Sumatra, Central Kalimantan, and Jambi, emphasizing the need for proactive investment in high-multiplier industries and green sectors to prevent economic shocks. It advocates for a combination of quantitative modelling and qualitative community research to design social protections and reskilling programs that specifically include women, youth, and informal workers.

The paper examines the 'care crisis' in Africa, where unpaid care work—primarily performed by women—is economically invisible and underfunded due to debt burdens and austerity. It proposes a shift toward 'feminist fiscal justice' by adopting progressive taxation, wealth taxes, and integrated care systems, drawing on successful models from Uruguay, Colombia, and Costa Rica.

The document defines fossil fuel subsidies as mechanisms that price fuels below real costs, noting that explicit subsidies reached USD 1.1 trillion in 2023, while total estimates including climate and health costs exceed USD 7 trillion. It argues that these subsidies distort markets, encourage overconsumption, and undermine energy security by increasing vulnerability to global price shocks. The guide highlights that reform can reduce CO2 emissions by 1%–10% by 2030 and generate fiscal savings for reinvestment in clean energy. It notes that broad subsidies often disproportionately benefit high-income households, with the top 20% receiving up to six times more benefits than the poorest 20%. Examples of successful reforms are cited from Indonesia, India, and Italy. The document also details the role of COFFIS in improving transparency through national subsidy inventories and phase-out plans.

The Just Transition Compass was launched at a networking dinner in Belém during COP30. Developed by LACLIMA and Climate Strategies with support from GIZ and the COP30 Presidency, the Compass is an operational tool designed to help negotiators and implementers translate high-level climate ambitions into fair, inclusive transitions. It focuses on governance choices regarding participation, safeguards, and the distribution of benefits and burdens to prevent the creation of new 'sacrifice zones'. The launch followed a series of dialogues in Brasília, Panama, Bonn, and Addis Ababa, and serves as a foundation for continued collaboration on policy design and financing beyond the project's conclusion on 31 December 2025.

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) argues that Africa is disproportionately burdened by global inequality, noting that 57% of Africans live in countries spending more on debt servicing than on healthcare or education. In the context of South Africa's G20 presidency, the IEJ demands five urgent reforms: ending exploitative debt systems, establishing a UN-led global tax convention, investing in food buffer stocks and universal social floors, ensuring a just energy transition for the Global South, and reducing unpaid care work for women.

The Just Transition Compass serves as a non-prescriptive guide to move Just Transitions from high-level dialogue to concrete implementation. It defines core principles of distributive, procedural, and restorative justice, identifies systemic barriers to national implementation—such as limited subnational capacity and siloed finance—and analyzes the political tensions within the UNFCCC's Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP). The report advocates for a permanent international coordination mechanism to align fragmented efforts, manage the cross-border impacts of unilateral trade measures like the EU's CBAM, and mobilize private capital through sustainable finance taxonomies.

The document examines fraud within South Africa's social grant system, asserting that while the government focuses on monitoring and excluding poor recipients through automated systems and strict eligibility checks, the most significant fraud is perpetrated by government officials and external contractors. It details various types of fraud, including internal corruption, identity theft, and illegal loan schemes, and criticizes the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) for using flawed algorithms and biometric verification that create barriers for the most vulnerable populations.

The guide argues that fossil fuel subsidies (FFSs) are misaligned with climate and fiscal goals and proposes a three-step approach to phase them out: establishing a whole-of-government coordination mechanism, categorizing subsidies into three timelines based on risk and feasibility, and executing detailed implementation plans with clear accountability. It emphasizes that while developed countries should lead with faster reforms, developing countries may require longer timelines and more robust social protection measures to ensure a just transition.

The document examines the challenges of Indonesia's transition away from coal, highlighting the severe economic risks to coal-dependent provinces and vulnerable groups. It advocates for a mixed-method approach to planning that combines quantitative economic modelling with qualitative social analysis to ensure that women, youth, and informal workers are not marginalized. Key recommendations include strategic investment in labour-intensive green sectors, tailored social protection, and the empowerment of local governments to manage the transition.

The report outlines the design of a proposed Country Platform for Nigeria's energy transition, arguing that the framework must be state-owned, politically anchored, and integrated with national development goals rather than being a donor-driven replica of other JETPs. It identifies critical needs for high-level presidential leadership, vertical coordination with oil-producing states, and the resolution of institutional bottlenecks that hinder the disbursement of climate finance. The proposed platform emphasizes a 'people-centred transition' that prioritizes job creation, energy access, and social protection for displaced workers, while strategically navigating global geopolitical pressures such as the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

The National Treasury has instructed the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to reduce the number of social grant recipients through strict verification procedures, such as facial recognition and bank account checks, to protect the fiscus. The Institute for Economic Justice reports that similar procedures for the R370 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant resulted in up to 90% of applicants being wrongly rejected. This occurs against a backdrop of rising food insecurity, with the proportion of households experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity increasing from 16% in 2019 to 20% in 2023, and child poverty rising from 55.6% in 2019 to 69.9% in 2022. To address this, advocates propose a Universal Basic Income (UBI) for all working-age adults, financed by additional taxation on the wealthy, to stimulate the economy and ensure redistributive justice.

The paper analyzes the energy transition pathways of Brazil and South Africa, focusing on the intersection of green skills and social protection. It highlights South Africa's struggle with coal dependency and fragmented skills planning versus Brazil's stronger renewable energy base and integrated social programs like Bolsa Verde. The authors argue that for a just transition, these nations must align green skills strategies with national development goals, increase funding for reskilling, and leverage South-South cooperation to protect vulnerable workers and reduce inequality.

The document reports on a series of protests in Indonesia during August 2025, where tens of thousands of workers and students demanded wage increases, labor law reforms, and an end to mass layoffs. It details severe police brutality, including the death of Affan Kurniawan, mass arrests, and torture. The statement argues that these actions reflect a systemic pattern of repression and calls for the Indonesian government to end police violence, investigate abuses, and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances (ICPPED).

Dr Basani Baloyi argues that unpaid care work is an invisible economic powerhouse that sustains global systems but remains excluded from GDP calculations. The address highlights Brazil's National Caregiving Policy and South Africa's G20 priorities as models for transformation. It asserts that investing in care infrastructure—guided by the ILO's 5R framework—would generate significant GDP returns, create millions of jobs, and address the looming demographic crisis of an aging global population.

The report addresses the need for a transparent mechanism to measure the workforce transition in Canada following the enactment of the Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act in June 2024. It argues that tracking must go beyond counting 'green jobs' to include job quality, social equity, and governance. The authors propose a framework based on 'Risk, Response, and Results,' identifying 18 key indicators—such as community susceptibility, Indigenous partnership in governance, and sustainable job compensation—to monitor federal progress. The report emphasizes that these indicators require operational definitions and a whole-of-government approach to data collection to ensure the transition is equitable and aligned with the Paris Agreement.

The IEJ argues that the current debt-reduction strategy is ineffective and suppresses economic growth. It recommends rejecting regressive taxes, such as VAT increases and the freeze on personal income tax brackets, while proposing progressive alternatives like wealth taxes and reinstating the corporate income tax rate to fund social protection and infrastructure.

The IEJ argues that South Africa's 2025 budget continues a pattern of fiscal consolidation and austerity that stifles economic growth and fails to meet constitutional obligations. The document criticizes the use of regressive tax measures, such as the general fuel levy increase and frozen personal income tax brackets, and highlights insufficient spending on healthcare, education, and social grants. It specifically calls for the expansion of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant and a shift away from Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure. The IEJ proposes alternative revenue sources, including increasing the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) rate to 28% and utilizing the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account (GFECRA), while recommending a more aggressive approach to debt management and wealth taxation.

The Universal Basic Income Coalition (UBIC) argues that proposed amendments to the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant regulations are insufficient and ignore a High Court ruling declaring key elements unconstitutional. UBIC highlights that the grant value of R370 remains below half the food poverty line (R796) and that the means test threshold of R624 continues to exclude needy applicants. The submission criticizes the short three-week public consultation window and the persistence of digital and linguistic barriers, urging the government to replace piecemeal annual extensions with a permanent, inclusive universal basic income grant to support 9 million food-insecure people.