Publication: Legal Foundations for Just Transitions: Strengthening National Frameworks for Development
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2025-11-26
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2025-12-19
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Just transition is now a familiar concept and a cornerstone of global efforts to move towards a low carbon, climate-resilient economy. In the context of multilateral climate action, just transition was formally recognized through the 2015 Paris Agreement, whose preamble takes into account the imperatives of a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs in accordance with nationally defined development priorities. Since 2015, when the ILO Guidelines for a Just Transition towards Environmentally Sustainable Economies and Societies for All were published, the understanding and application of just transition has expanded in scope, increasingly reflecting principles that are people-centered, socially protective, human rights-based, inclusive of all stakeholders especially the vulnerable, equitable, fair, gender-responsive, beneficial, whole-of-economy, whole-of-society, with meaningful stakeholder input and participation, and socio-economic opportunities for entire populations, including Indigenous Peoples (IPs). The success of transition efforts hinges on well-designed and effective national legal frameworks and institutions that balance economic transformation with social and environmental protections. Without adequate legal frameworks and institutions, countries face significant risks including climate vulnerability, social disruption, legal liability and uncertainty, implementation gaps, economic inefficiency, governance failures, and human rights concerns. This report aims to provide an overview of the main elements that can be included in a national legal framework to ground just transition in rules that will contribute to making it equitable, legally coherent, effective, and durable in practice. It examines illustrative areas most relevant to operationalizing just transition, including labor standards and employment law, energy, critical minerals, agriculture, finance, and natural resources.
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“World Bank; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2025. Legal Foundations for Just Transitions: Strengthening National Frameworks for Development. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/44094 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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