At COP28 leaders and experts from Nigeria and South Africa shared their vision on how to build a just transition to a low-emission, climate-resilient future, relying on transparency to foster inclusive climate action while ensuring that no one will be left behind.

At a COP28 side-event on 9 December, Nigeria and South Africa, presented their countries’ just transition visions, emphasizing the importance of transparency and inclusivity in ensuring a fair and equitable transition for all. The two countries shared how they are planning to use indicators for defining the guardrails of a transition that ensures that all legitimate concerns are addressed. They would allow for continuous monitoring and evaluation and inform decision-making processes in a way that enables their economies to fundamentally transform, in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, while protecting the rights of their citizens, in particular the workforce.

The concept of just transitions introduces a framework for ensuring that the transition to a low-carbon economy is fair and inclusive for all, particularly for vulnerable groups. It prioritizes dialogue and stakeholder engagement, and aims to secure the livelihoods and futures of citizens, in particular workers and their communities that may be affected by the transition. 

“Proper awareness creation across all sectors on the impact of climate change and the need for just transition as an off-shoot of climate action builds trust and creates ownership of the just transition movement into a green economy,” said the Honorable Minister of Labour & Employment of Nigeria, Simon Bako Lalong, represented by Adamu Sumi Gizos, Director of Special Duties and Project of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment. 

He was joined at the event by Dr. Salisu Dahiru, Director General of the National Climate Change Council of Nigeria, who reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to climate action, including to its contributions under the Paris Agreement and its long-term decarbonization target. He highlighted the importance of effective partnership.

A just transition to a low-carbon economy requires careful planning and strategic decisions to safeguard the interests of stakeholders, such as the labour force. Transparency of just transitions, including mechanisms to enable tracking and monitoring of indicators, will provide valuable information to stakeholders, including in government, civil society groups, communities, labour unions, researchers, financial institutions, and businesses. This information can help design and implement the policies and measures that are necessary to transition to a green economy in a just and equitable way.

Mario Diaz, World Resources Institute (WRI), presented the forthcoming methodological guide for tracking just transitions, currently under development by WRI under the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT). The guide introduces a versatile framework and provides a step-by-step approach that countries can follow regardless of their stage in the just transition process and their targeted economic sectors. The guide fosters innovation and country-specific solutions, placing stakeholder engagement at the heart of the process.

Nigeria and South Africa have partnered with ICAT to establish national just transition transparency frameworks. In Nigeria, the ICAT project is led by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment with a view to creating a national just and gender-inclusive transition measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) framework. In South Africa, the ICAT project is led by the Presidential Climate Commission aiming at developing a just transition monitoring and evaluation system. Representatives from both countries shared their perspectives in a panel discussion. They were joined by representatives from Scotland, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the National Labour Council Nigeria (NLC).

Dr Peter Tarfa, Project Lead of the ICAT just and gender-inclusive transition project in Nigeria, highlighted the importance of wide stakeholder engagement. He underlined that Nigeria engaged stakeholders from the beginning of the process and sought their feedback. This included different departments of the government, subnational authorities, civil society and faith-based organizations, and the media. Emphasis was placed on ensuring gender-inclusitvity and geographic coverage across all regions of Nigeria. The process was accompanied by an awareness raising campaign through TV and other national media to be able to reach every household in the country.

Katie Ross, Head of Monitoring and Evaluation, and Content at the Presidential Climate Commission of South Africa, explained that the work on tracking just transitions would allow the country to know that they are on the right track, doing more good than harm. It could improve policy and decision making through evidence presented to the highest levels of government. She highlighted the high-level commitment to justice in climate action and the active involvement of the national cabinet. The link to just transition finance was also a core aspect of the process.

Nick Robins from the Scottish Just Transition Commission emphasized the important role of indicators and recommended building as much as possible on existing indicators from various spheres of government. He highlighted that accountability and transparency in the context of just transition did not apply only to the government, but also to the business and financial community. These actors were important contributors to the transition and needed to be held accountable, including for decisions that could be harmful. He made the link to the work on the UNFCCC just transition work programme, where he had also recommended a focus on indicators to operationalize just transition processes.

On behalf of the ITUC, Diana Junquera Curiel, Special Advisor in the Just Transition Centre and Director of Energy Industry and Just Transition of IndustriALL Global Union, highlighted the value of a social dialogue with workers at the table for the design of solid plans for the transition, the implementation of which needed to be tracked to assess progress.

Eche Asuzu, climate focal point of Nigeria’s National Labour Council, commended Nigeria for seeking out the workers’ opinion in the just transition process, which gave hope for positive progress. He stressed, however, that this should not be a one-time occurrence, but rather an ongoing process, supported by appropriate legislative and institutional frameworks. He also emphasized the importance of covering the informal economy in the process, and impacts such as those on human health.

“Without data and transparency, it is impossible to engage stakeholders in a meaningful way, which is an essential building block for achieving a just transition and the transformational change needed to move to a low-carbon economy,” underlined Henning Wuester, Director of the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT).

The COP28 side-event “Transparency of Just Transitions” was co-organized by the government of Nigeria, Sustainable Energy Africa and ICAT.