by Maria Cristina Mundin
Executive Summary
During 2024, ILP has seen a record number of requests for support on cases addressing just transition challenges in Global South countries. Below, we summarise our work in this area during 2024 and look forward to 2025.
As the adverse impact of climate change worsens each year, more and more countries are seeking ways to decarbonise and build a climate resilient future. This race to net zero has led to a dramatic increase in the number of green development projects in the last few years, ranging from renewable energy projects to carbon markets. However, this rapid shift towards a green economy has only exacerbated economic, gender and other social inequalities around the world, particularly in Global South countries.
The glaring inequities and challenges arising from these projects means that the concept of just transition is growing momentum. But what exactly is “just transition”? Although there is no formal definition, a just transition helps ensure that the shift towards a green economy is inclusive and equitable, particularly for those most impacted by climate change and the move away from fossil fuels.
In 2024, we saw a record number of partner requests for support as communities and CSOs seek to hold governments and corporations accountable for environmental harms and to advocate for policies that not only mitigate climate risks but also promote social justice. Under our Environment and Sustainable Development programme, we have assisted in enhancing the capacity and knowledge of NGOs, CSOs and Indigenous communities to address just transition challenges that impact them. We also supported the development of legal strategies that protect the human and environmental rights of communities during this transition, ensuring that economic, social, and environmental considerations are balanced and that the voices of the most vulnerable are heard and heeded.
As 2024 comes to a close, we look back on some of the impactful projects we supported, to enable our partners to advocate for their rights and ensure that governments and corporations advance a just and inclusive transition.
Legal Remedies and Tools to Address Just Transition Challenges
On 6 November, ILP, together with Landmark Chambers, hosted a seminar entitled "Legal Remedies and Tools to Address Just Transition Challenges" in celebration of UK Pro Bono Week.
The hybrid seminar focused on different tools and remedies ranging from domestic to international legal mechanisms that can be utilised for climate action and to address challenges in the path to just transition. The speakers for the event included:
Alex Shattock, Landmark Chambers, who discussed the use of domestic tools and challenges for climate action.
Natasha Jackson, Landmark Chambers, who discussed climate litigation in the European Court of Human Rights.
Maria Cristina Mundin, International Lawyers Project, who discussed how to enhance the capacity of communities and civil society to tackle just transition challenges.
Robert Allen, Simmons & Simmons, who discussed the use of dispute resolution as a tool for climate justice.
Jackson Shaa, Narasha Community Development Group, who discussed his lived experience in empowering communities for climate resilience and just energy transition.
You can watch the seminar online:
Just Energy Transition & Transition Mineral Accountability Webinar Series
The increased demand for transition minerals necessary to produce green technologies has exacerbated climate inequalities, with mineral licences being granted quickly within climate-vulnerable, fragile, and corruption-prone states such as the Philippines. In partnership with Bantay Kita PH (Publish What You Pay Philippines), Manila Observatory, and Norton Rose Fullbright, we conducted a two-part civil society legal empowerment workshop on legal frameworks and grievance mechanisms, both international and domestic, to ensure accountability and transparency in transition mineral mining in the Philippines. The workshop was aimed particularly at helping civil society and communities strengthen their advocacy, ensuring their rights are protected and that their voices are heard during discussions about mining in their communities.
You can watch the two-part workshop online:
In 2025, we expect the number of project requests addressing just transition challenges to grow here at ILP. As more countries introduce regulatory frameworks to promote a green economy and more corporations are looking for the next green investment, obstacles and challenges will continue to present themselves if the human rights and other environment-related rights of those impacted are not considered. It is crucial that green development projects not only advance climate action towards a net-zero economy, but also advance progress on the sustainable development goals through a human rights approach. Only then can we achieve a just transition that leaves no one behind.
Maria Cristina Mundin is a qualified lawyer in the Philippines and holds a Master's degree in Environmental Law (Distinction) at Queen Mary University of London. She leads our Environment and Sustainable Development programme.
Before joining ILP, Maria worked in the Office of the Solicitor General, where she defended the constitutionality of laws and state policies particularly in energy, natural resources and government infrastructure projects; as a Law Clerk in the Supreme Court of the Philippines; and as a law lecturer, where she taught environmental and natural resources law and administrative law. She has also served as a research assistant for Dr. Antonio G.M. La Vina, the Philippines' foremost expert in environmental law.
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