Oxfam and the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre published Pathways to a Fast and Just Energy Transition: Insights from Clean Energy Case Studies (May 2025). The report is accompanied by a compendium of six case studies representing a range of different clean energy projects in different countries.
Human Level’s Take:
- Evidence shows that a just transition is essential to accelerating the clean energy shift in a way that delivers broad social, economic and environmental benefits. While the energy transition is gaining momentum and brings clear advantages, ensuring it is fair and inclusive is crucial to its success and long-term public support
- Through six global case studies, Oxfam and the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre show that effective clean energy projects combine environmental impact with community empowerment, social equity and economic opportunity
- The report calls on governments and other stakeholders to implement ambitious, inclusive frameworks and financing mechanisms that protect human rights, address historical injustices, and support fair ownership and participation in the energy transition
- These lessons are also relevant for companies. The private sector contributes resources, innovation and leverage to drive forward the climate transition — which also means they have a significant opportunity to ensure the transition is just
- One important way companies can ensure that they are participating in just, fair initiatives is conducting human rights due diligence throughout the lifespan of the project, whether they are developing, investing in or sourcing from clean energy projects. They can also ensure that there are project-specific grievance mechanisms that can offer meaningful remedy to impacted people. And, they can use their influence to advocate for policies and trade agreements that support rather than erode the rights of workers and communities
Some key takeaways:
- The just transition is a key vehicle for the energy transition: The report points out that the clean energy transition is accelerating globally, delivering wide-ranging benefits such as improved energy access, lower fuel bills, better health and new green jobs and industries. While there are upfront investment costs, the falling price of renewables and the substantial social, economic and climate gains outweigh the costs. Evidence increasingly shows that delaying the transition would be far more costly than acting now. The key challenge now is ensuring a just transition. The report authors write that a just transition offers a “historic” opportunity to improve people’s lives, reduce inequalities and contribute to shared prosperity and development. At the same time, it could garner public support for a fast energy transition and help mitigate structural drivers of the climate crisis via public, cooperative, community and joint co-ownership models.
- What good practice looks like: The report delves into six case studies to demonstrate key features of positive practice in the clean energy transition: a Māori co-owned geothermal plant in New Zealand, government-supported energy communities in Colombia, micro-hydro schemes in Pakistan, community benefit wind farm in Kenya, coal decommissioning in South Africa, and mining law reforms in Mexico to minimise social and environmental impacts of transition minerals. The case studies highlight a range of energy transition policies, projects, and ownership models. Although none fully meet all just transition criteria, they present a strong case for placing justice and rights at the centre of energy transition efforts. According to the report's authors, a key feature of effective clean energy projects is offering emissions reduction and environmental benefits while also offering benefits to workers and communities — for example, improved energy access, economic opportunities, and social co-benefits like improved participation in decision-making, support for displaced workers, better infrastructure, fewer health problems, new skills and capacities, and less conflict over resources. At the same time, effective initiatives are able to offset financial and opportunity costs with gains from the value of avoided climate impacts, in addition to the economic and social co-benefits. They also use inclusive approaches that acknowledge and redress historical and structural injustices in order to increase community support and speed adoption of initiatives. This should be coupled with approaches that fairly distribute the burdens of transition responsibilities based on contributions to emissions, as well as “full and fair” climate finance from both public and private sources. Implementing an independent grievance mechanism specific to the initiative can also help build community support by addressing negative impacts of the project and ensuring respect for human rights of the most impacted people.
- Lessons learned: The report offers a number of key learnings for governments, many of which also offer lessons for companies developing, investing in or sourcing from clean energy initiatives. Most of the initiatives reviewed received international climate finance from governments or companies, highlighting the crucial role of both public and private investment in supporting climate justice and action in lower-income countries. Evidence from the case studies supports the need for governments to swiftly implement ambitious and fair financial, regulatory and policy frameworks to drive a just energy transition. This includes making international climate finance more accessible and equitable, particularly through public grants and concessional funding; adopting inclusive national frameworks grounded in equality and ongoing learning; and ensuring robust protection of human rights and the environment through regulation and conditions on financial support. It also calls for backing fair, sustainable business models (such as community or Indigenous-owned renewable projects) and reforming international trade and investment rules that currently limit government action.
