15 November 2025 ¦ 9.30 am to 10.30 am
Background
As inequalities deepen alongside the accelerating climate crisis, the international community faces the urgent need for a just transition—one that reconciles the imperative of a sustainable environmental transition with greater opportunities for social development and reduced inequalities for individuals, workers, territories, and communities. This principle is essential to the success of carbon neutrality and adaptation policies, as well as to addressing biodiversity challenges.
A just transition requires, in the shift toward post-fossil-fuel economies, the implementation of public policies and investments that integrate social protection mechanisms, support for professional retraining, and the creation of new decent jobs within an inclusive and transformative approach.
Recent debates under the UNFCCC process and the mobilization of civil society have reaffirmed the key foundations of just transition: the anchoring of human and labor rights; eligibility for climate finance; integration of Just Transition roadmaps into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and long-term strategies; prioritization of social protection and poverty reduction measures; and the establishment of shared governance and institutional frameworks.
However, national realities remain diverse—budgetary and institutional capacities, production structures, levels of informality, and financial or trade margins vary greatly across countries. The concept of a just transition must therefore be adapted by governments and social partners to national and local contexts.
The response to these challenges can only emerge through multi-stakeholder dialogue, building on existing institutional channels and fostering coordination between governments, public development banks (PDBs), multilateral institutions, and civil society actors. PDBs and States play a key role in supporting equitable and sustainable transition pathways by channeling financial flows toward investments with high social and environmental impact—supporting job creation, social protection, and equitable access to resources and green energy. Joint initiatives such as the UN Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions, coordinated by the ILO and combining UN technical assistance with PDB financial support, and the Coalition for Social Investments launched under the Finance in Common Summit (FiCS), illustrate the value of integrated cooperation between public and technical partners. Co-led by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), and the International Labour Organization (ILO), with the support of the Global Accelerator and other UN institutions, the FiCS Coalition aims to strengthen PDB contributions to just transitions through increased social investments—in health, education, training, social protection, and decent work—and to promote a coordinated mobilization of financing with strong social and climate impacts.
The objective of this side event is to highlight concrete and promising solutions to maximize the environmental and social co-benefits of investments and public spending in favor of a low-carbon transition. Through multi-stakeholder dialogue and innovative impact measurement, various financial instruments, targeted support, and collaboration between research actors, institutions, and civil society can contribute to the ecological transition while paving the way for more equitable and sustainable economic and social development.
Objectives
- Highlight investments supporting a just transition that reduce dependence on fossil fuels and maximize social and climate co-benefits;
- Discuss the enabling conditions for the implementation of just transition policies—or ongoing reflections to initiate them—in areas such as social protection, employment, inclusive economic diversification, citizen participation, and social dialogue;
- Present a range of financial instruments and demonstrate the value of multi-stakeholder dialogue to align public institutions, private investors, and civil society, including through country examples participating in the Global Accelerator;
- Link the environmental and social ambitions of the just transition to innovative impact measurement methodologies that generate tangible benefits for the climate, ecosystems, and communities, ensuring effective participation.