The Just Transition Mechanism could be one of the biggest outcomes of COP31, if negotiators can come to agreement on how to operationalise it. Ahead of the negotiations in Antalya, TNE Founder Dr Amanda Cahill sets out what’s agreed, what’s contested and what still needs to be decided.
COP31 takes place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November, and the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM) is high on the agenda. But what is it? Why do we need it? And what needs to be decided to get it up and running? Dr Cahill explores these questions in a new options paper ahead of her trip to COP31.
What is the Just Transition Mechanism?
At COP30 in Belém, parties agreed to develop the JTM to strengthen international cooperation, technical assistance, capacity building and knowledge sharing for equitable, inclusive just transitions.
The decision contains some of the strongest human rights language in the UNFCCC, recognising the rights of workers (including informal workers), Indigenous peoples, women, local communities, vulnerable groups, migrants and internally displaced persons, people of African descent, children, youth, elderly people and persons with disabilities.
It adopts a holistic scope that encompasses all economic sectors and the whole of society, recognising the right to development and to a healthy, clean and sustainable environment.
Why do we need it?
The impacts of climate action are not evenly distributed, either between or within countries. Centring justice, rights and equity is key to minimising harm and sharing the benefits of the transition fairly.
Support is growing, but it’s fragmented and hard to reach. The few national transition authorities that exist are mostly in the Global North, and they tend to focus narrowly on energy industries and workers, overlooking the broader impacts on society.
“The decision to establish the Just Transition Mechanism recognises the need for improved institutional capacity within the UNFCCC to address the gaps and lack of coherence across the fragmented landscape of transition support,” says Dr Cahill.
“We’ve seen what happens in regional Australia if the principles of justice and equity are not at the centre of how we manage the transition to net zero. Establishing the Just Transition Mechanism to unleash a world of expertise, technology, finance and other resources is not only the right thing to do, it is also the key to unlocking the scale and pace of transition we all need.”
What’s the state of play?
“Parties share a high level of agreement on the overall purpose, functions and principles that will inform the design of the JTM,” says Dr Cahill. “But they have not yet agreed on the specific details of what it will do, the form it will take and how it will operate.”
What would success look like?
By the end of COP 31, parties must reaffirm the principles, scope and functions of the JTM that were laid out at COP 30, while also deciding on the specifics of what it will do to improve access to resources and expertise so that countries are better able integrate just transition principles into planning, policies and programs.
More work will need to be done to get the Just Transition Mechanism up and running by COP 32, but what this work will look like depends on the outcomes in Antalya.
“As the world confronts the realities of overshoot, it is time to shift from dialogue to action.”
Read more: The mechanism critical for achieving a just transition