Report reveals failing investment in just transition

A new report by ActionAid has exposed low levels of funding for just transition —a concept that supports and prioritizes workers, women, and communities.

The report released ahead of COP 30, which is titled ‘Climate Finance for Just Transition: How the Finance Flows,’ analyzed data from the two major global climate funds, which are the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Climate Investment Fund (CIF).

Findings reveal that only 2.8 percent of climate finance supports just transition approaches.

The data also reveals that only one in 50 projects, which is 1.96 percent, are adequately listening to and supporting people through just transition, and only one US dollar in every 35 spent supports just transition.

The analysis shows that nearly all of these projects were financed through the GCF, where just 10 out of 178 projects met just transition criteria. In comparison, only two out of 466 CIF projects were found to meet the same standard.

The report notes that the total global funding for just transition is less than the amount spent by billionaire Jeff Bezos on purchasing and maintaining his superyacht.

In the report, ActionAid, an organization that supports communities ravaged by the climate crisis, is advocating for an urgent need to move away from fossil fuels and industrial agriculture and towards renewables and agroecology. However, it says that it needs to be done in a way that protects people’s jobs and rights and makes food and energy affordable.

Arthur Larok, Secretary General for ActionAid International says just transition approaches to be followed must mean involving communities in local planning processes, providing support and training for new jobs and thriving greener economies, and offering income support to help bridge the gaps when climate-destructive industries close down.

“The world urgently needs action to prevent climate breakdown, but it should be polluters, not the workers and communities who pay the price,” Larok says.

He adds, “Our new report shows just transition approaches are jaw-droppingly underfunded, and people’s needs are at the bottom of the priority list. Something’s got to give. If just transition continues to be overlooked, then there is a real risk that inequalities will deepen.”

Teresa Anderson, report author and ActionAid’s Global Lead on Climate Justice, says no one should have to choose between a secure job and a safe planet.

“Just transition approaches make sure that climate action prioritizes people’s daily needs, and does not accidentally push people deeper into poverty. Without just transition approaches, climate action risks unintended harm, backlash, and ever-more delays,” Anderson says.

Apart from exposing investment failures in just transition, the report highlights stories of harm by industrial agriculture companies and fossil fuel giants in communities ActionAid works with in the Global South, identifying stories of strength as people and workers fight back against climate destruction and deforestation, as well as key sectors that must play a role in a greener future but are not protecting workers and communities.

For generations, a community living near Timbiras in Maranhāo, part of the legal Amazon region in Brazil, has made a living from babassu coconuts, a type of palm that grows naturally in the forest and which produces oil and fibers that are widely used in food, industry, and cosmetics.

As deforestation advances, the community faces growing pressure from farmers, businessmen, and politicians to leave their forest territory to make way for expanding industrial agriculture.

“They want to push us out to grow corn, soya or raise cattle. They just want to grab this land,” says a babassu coconut breaker from the area, who requested not to be identified.

The community has faced intimidation methods to leave the land. For three years, planes and drones have been spraying the community with pesticides. This has led to community members experiencing headaches, nausea, stomach pains, dizziness, and rashes. While pesticide attacks have now been banned, little is being done to enforce the ban, and deforestation continues.

ActionAid Brazil Climate Justice Specialist Jessica Siviero says the Amazon forest acts as the lungs of the planet, while the Cerrado serves as its veins, carrying life and connecting vital systems.

“COP 30 coming to Belém puts the spotlight on industrial agriculture’s role in driving Amazon and Cerrado destruction. It is time for the world to move away from harmful industrial agriculture and towards agro-ecological approaches that feed people and cool the planet. Just transition approaches need to be applied to agriculture as well,” Siviero says.

With one week to go until COP 30 begins in Belém, Brazil, ActionAid is calling for a commitment to coordinate a just transition globally.

Specifically, along with its allies, it is demanding a Belém Action Mechanism (BAM) on a just transition to be set up to ensure coordination, shared learning, and support implementation.

“This is a critical opportunity for global climate action to evolve for the better. COP 30 needs to deliver on a global plan for just transition to support and reassure those on the frontlines, and to unleash the action out planet so urgently needs,” Anderson says.

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