The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) has made a written submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat on the operationalisation of the Just Transition Mechanism under the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Just Transition Work Programme adopted at COP30.
In this submission, the IEJ sets out recommendations on the purpose, orientation, governance, financing, technical assistance, capacity-building, and accountability arrangements required to ensure that the mechanism advances equitable and inclusive just transitions, particularly in developing countries facing structural constraints such as limited fiscal space, debt burdens, and institutional capacity challenges.
About the submission
The IEJ welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the development of the Just Transition Mechanism under the UAE Just Transition Work Programme. As the submission argues, the mechanism must be explicitly equity-oriented and grounded in the principles of the Convention and the Paris Agreement, including common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in light of different national circumstances.
The submission emphasises that just transitions are multisectoral, multidimensional, and context-specific. It therefore calls for an approach that supports nationally determined pathways, strengthens international cooperation, and ensures that finance, technical assistance, and knowledge-sharing respond to the realities faced by developing countries.
What the IEJ recommends
An equity-oriented mechanism
The IEJ argues that the Just Transition Mechanism must be explicitly guided by equity and aligned with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. It should support nationally determined Just Transition pathways implemented through national climate and development frameworks, including nationally determined contributions (NDCs), national adaptation plans (NAPs), and long-term low-emission development strategies (LT-LEDS).
Stronger international cooperation
The submission calls for international cooperation that addresses the structural and cross-border constraints shaping national transition pathways. This includes debt burdens, constrained fiscal space, and wider features of global economic governance that limit the ability of developing countries to pursue just transitions on fair terms.
The IEJ further argues that finance mobilised through the mechanism must be new, additional, predictable, and primarily grant-based. It should not be tied to conditionalities that narrow policy space or impose prescriptive transition pathways on recipient countries.
Demand-driven technical assistance
The submission stresses that technical assistance must be demand-driven, non-prescriptive, and tailored to national contexts. It should extend beyond energy systems transformation to include labour markets, social protection systems, industrial policy, and public finance.
The IEJ cautions against one-size-fits-all and purely market-led approaches, arguing that these fail to account for the distinct economic structures, labour market realities, and social vulnerabilities that shape transition processes in different countries and communities.
Long-term capacity-building and knowledge-sharing
The submission proposes that capacity-building be understood as a long-term institutional process rather than a short-term technical exercise. It should prioritise strengthening public institutions, including those responsible for finance, labour, social development, and energy.
It also calls for knowledge-sharing that promotes South–South cooperation, peer learning, political economy analysis, and rights-based approaches, in line with the broader goals of equity, international cooperation, and social justice.
Equitable and inclusive transitions
A central argument of the submission is that equitable and inclusive just transitions require explicit support for social protection systems, income security, labour rights, and the protection of people in vulnerable situations.
The IEJ also stresses that care-centred approaches, gender equality, and the protection of affected workers and communities must be treated as core components of Just Transition pathways. Transitions that ignore unpaid care work, gendered labour market impacts, and the needs of marginalised groups risk reproducing existing inequalities and weakening the social legitimacy of transition processes.
Clear operational arrangements
The submission calls on the subsidiary bodies to recommend an operationalisation process with clear governance and accountability arrangements, alongside predictable and adequate finance that does not worsen debt burdens or erode fiscal space.
It further recommends that the draft decision for consideration at CMA 8 clearly define the scope, functions, and review modalities of the Just Transition Mechanism, including its relationship to the broader review of the effectiveness and efficiency of the work programme.
Why this matters
The design of the Just Transition Mechanism will shape how international cooperation supports countries and communities navigating major economic and social transitions in the context of climate change. For developing countries in particular, the question is not only whether support is available, but whether that support is fair, adequate, and responsive to national priorities and lived realities.
The IEJ’s submission argues that a credible mechanism must do more than facilitate transition in the abstract. It must help create the enabling conditions for transitions that are equitable, inclusive, and development-oriented, and that do not deepen debt, inequality, or vulnerability.