Just Transition: addressing climate change by sharing the economic and social climate agenda

The EUROCLIMA+ cooperation programme has held a webinar to present the results obtained from the Thematic Study 18.Just Transition: an approach to linking the climate, economic and social agendas, and analysing the status of this approach in public policies in Europe and Latin America.  

The Just Transition perspective involves addressing the social and labour impact that the decarbonisation processes will cause on the socioeconomic fabric of all countries. Key sectors in many of them, such as mining, energy linked to fossil sources or intensive food production, will be affected by the measures that are beginning to take shape in national legislation.   

The session was opened by the director of FIIAPP, who highlighted the importance of Latin America and the European Union having a shared just transition agenda and, in addition, incorporating three key elements in their actions: knowledge sharing as a development tool, the gender perspective and social cohesion as transversal and complementary strands of cooperation.  

In addition, during the meeting, it was stressed that the transition towards a zero-emission economy is not only vital to avoid the consequences of climate change, but can also stimulate a sustainable and inclusive economic reactivation. To achieve this, as explained by EUROCLIMA+, a project financed by the European Union and in whose management FIIAPP participates, it is necessary to anticipate the changes and adopt political measures that are timely and effective, incorporate the just transition approach in recovery policies and have specific and multisectoral policy instruments such as just transition plans or strategies) and ensure their inclusion in key instruments (NDC, LTS). 

The event was also attended by the director of EUROSOCIAL+ , a European cooperation programme of which FIIAPP manages the Democratic Governance area. Santomé has highlighted the opportunity for the just transition agenda to be a possible accelerator of the 2030 agenda, which focuses on the fight against inequalities, and its alignment with “development in transition” 

In addition to the representatives from FIIAPP, EUROCLIMA+ and EUROSOCIAL+, during the event we had the chance to hear the voices of key institutions for addressing the just transition in Latin America such as the Energy and Environmental Policies and Studies Division at the Chilean Ministry of Energy, the Control Organisations Personnel Union (APOC), the Argentine General Auditor, the National Council of the Private Company of Panama (CoNEP), the European Commission General Directorate for Climate Action.