Submission to the United Arab Emirates Just Transition Work Programme: call for inputs: just transition mechanism

This submission responds to the call for inputs under the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP). It responds directly to paragraphs 25 and 26 of the UAE JTWP CMA.7 decision agreed at the 30th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP30) which invite views on the process for operationalising a just transition mechanism (JTM) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The recommendations address both the process for developing the JTM and the functions and corresponding institutional structures the JTM should adopt.

The submission draws on work produced by the Grantham Research Institute, including the Just Transition Finance Lab and the Law & Governance research unit; the Green Skills Lab; the Centre for Economic Transition Expertise (CETEx); and the TPI Global Climate Transition Centre.

Recommendations

• Development of the JTM
  • The JTM should learn from the institutional trajectory of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM). Any constituted bodies established under the JTM should, from the outset, have clear and complementary mandates, be required to coordinate with each other and with relevant bodies within and outside the UNFCCC, and produce knowledge products accessible in multiple languages and inclusive of Indigenous peoples, local communities, youth and displaced populations.
  • The process of developing the JTM must embody the principles of meaningful participation that the COP30 decision text affirms. Trade unions, employers’ organisations and civil society coalitions should be granted an advisory role in the JTM development process, in anticipation of a formalised governance role within the mechanism. Approaches that marginalise social partners in institutional design would be inconsistent with the principles agreed in the decision text.
• Functions of the JTM
  • The submission recommendations focus on three functions of the JTM: capacity-building, technical assistance and knowledge-sharing.
    • Capacity-building: The JTM’s capacity-building function should operate at two levels: high-level coordination across existing UN programmes and initiatives, and direct operational support for social partners at the country and sector levels, including through independent analytical capabilities, network development and training. This dual approach builds on the existing delivery modes of ILO programmes while addressing a key gap: the limited direct support currently available for social partners in the largest green transition programmes.
    • Technical assistance: JTM technical advice should adopt a strong definition of country ownership and help create accountability structures that incorporate milestone- and target-based disbursements and transparency. Any financing modalities supported through the JTM should include a defined minimum grant share for the least developed countries (LDCs) and high-vulnerability emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), safeguards to limit debt burdens, and support for countries with more limited capacity. JTM technical assistance should also respond to existing and emerging bilateral and multilateral initiatives, including JETPs and country platforms.
    • Knowledge-sharing: The knowledge-sharing function should adhere to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and support the regionalisation of resources where necessary, including the development of contextualised sectoral pathways and benchmarks for EMDEs. It should also improve awareness of and access to weather and climate information in vulnerable countries.
• Institutional structure of the JTM
  • The submission’s authors recommend a dual-arm structure comprising a policy arm and an operational arm with an embedded funding coordination hub as the model best suited to performing the functions summarised above. The policy arm should provide analysis, develop frameworks and toolkits, and coordinate with existing UNFCCC bodies. The operational arm should deliver demand-driven technical assistance, capacity-building and knowledge brokerage, hosted by or networked through existing UN agencies.