By Hon. Prof. Kariuki Muigua, OGW, PhD, C.Arb, FCIArb is a Professor of Environmental Law and Dispute Resolution at the University of Nairobi, Member of Permanent Court of Arbitration, Leading Environmental Law Scholar, Respected Sustainable Development Policy Advisor, Top Natural Resources Lawyer, Highly-Regarded Dispute Resolution Expert and Awardee of the Order of Grand Warrior (OGW) of Kenya by H.E. the President of Republic of Kenya. He is The African ADR Practitioner of the Year 2022, The African Arbitrator of the Year 2022, ADR Practitioner of the Year in Kenya 2021, CIArb (Kenya) Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 and ADR Publisher of the Year 2021 and Author of the Kenya’s First ESG Book: Embracing Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) tenets for Sustainable Development” (Glenwood, Nairobi, July 2023) and Kenya’s First Two Climate Change Law Book: Combating Climate Change for Sustainability (Glenwood, Nairobi, October 2023), Achieving Climate Justice for Development (Glenwood, Nairobi, October 2023) and Promoting Rule of Law for Sustainable Development (Glenwood, Nairobi, January 2024)*
In order to embrace just transition, it is imperative to build a climate resilient and integrated sustainable energy sector in Africa and other regions which are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It has been observed that Africa has rich energy and mineral resources including lithium, graphite, cobalt, nickel, copper, and rare earth minerals all of which provide new market opportunities for the green transition. This coupled with the Continent’s renewable energy potential means that Africa has the capacity to achieve just transition to an equitable and inclusive low-carbon future.
It has correctly been observed that Africa has immense potential for renewable energy including wind, solar, hydro, bioenergy, ocean tidal waves, geothermal among other renewables. It has been pointed out that in order to ensure delivery of global climate change mitigation goals, developing countries will need to drive investment towards building a renewable energy infrastructure that can serve their populations into the future and not drive further climate breakdown.
A just transition promotes the shift towards renewable sources of energy and sustainable practices, reducing the reliance on fossil fuels and mitigating the impacts of climate change. It is therefore important for developing countries to embrace just transition by promoting renewable sources of energy in order to achieve climate justice and energy justice. It is also essential to integrate just transition initiatives in national climate action plans and adaptation plans.
It has been observed that the importance of just transition is increasingly being recognized by governments worldwide as they cite just transition principles in their short- and long-term climate plans known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Long-Term Strategies (LTSs). Embedding just transition strategies within short and long term climate plans like NDCs and LTS, can help governments stay focused on the urgent task at hand of rapid decarbonization, while also striving for fair and inclusive outcomes.
In Kenya, the National Climate Change Action Plan enshrines the principles of just transition and seeks to foster an equitable and inclusive climate response which ensures an electricity supply mix based mainly on renewable energy that is resilient to climate change and promotes energy efficiency; encourage the transition to clean cooking that reduces the demand for biomass; and reduced exposure and vulnerability of the country, and especially of the poor and vulnerable groups, to climate disasters and shocks. It is therefore necessary for countries to incorporate just transition initiatives in their NDCs and LTSs in order to achieve efficient climate outcomes. This will demonstrate commitment towards achieving climate justice while securing public support for ambitious and stronger climate action.
Further, there is need to unlock and align climate finance with the idea of just transition. It has been argued that governments have an obligation to mobilize sustainable, affordable, predictable and long-term finance from public and private, domestic and international sources, and aligning public and private financial flows and public procurement to the objectives of a just transition. According to the UNFCCC, increased climate finance is needed to effectively address the challenges and seize the opportunities of just transitions in country-specific and sector-specific pathways considering the local circ*mstances.
Climate finance has been identified as a key tool towards fostering climate justice since it recognizes the inequalities between countries with developing countries being the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and thus requiring financial resources to aid their mitigation and adaptation programmes86. It is therefore imperative for all countries and especially developing countries to unlock climate finance from multiple sources including public, private and multilateral sources in order to achieve just transition by addressing the socio-economic impacts of climate change and addressing climate inequalities more broadly through efficient mitigation and adaptation strategies.
In addition, it is necessary to embrace and enhance technology transfer between developed and developing countries in order to enhance the capacity of the former to later to embrace just transition. It has been pointed out that developing countries have vast renewable potential, but are unable to realize it as long as they are constrained by lack of access to green technologies. Without access to environmentally sound technologies, developing countries in particular least developed countries, will not be able to meet mitigation targets and will be forced to continue using carbon-intensive technologies resulting in climate and sustainability concerns.
Transferring low-carbon and green technologies to those most at risk of climate crisis is critical, among a range of other measures, to ensure that people can respond and adapt to the threat of climate change. Technology transfer can support the climate agenda in developing countries for energy and other sectoral transitions.
The Paris Agreement acknowledges the importance of technology for the implementation of mitigation and adaptation actions and urges countries to promote and facilitate enhanced action on technology development and transfer in order to support the implementation of the Agreement. It is thus pertinent for developed countries to promote transfer of low-carbon technologies including green technologies in developing countries in order to support climate action in such countries.
Developing countries should on the other hand remove barriers to green technology transfer including Intellectual Property barriers and revise bilateral and multilateral trade agreements that present a barrier to transfer initiatives. Finally, there is need to foster capacity building in order to effectively realize just transition. One of the key challenges in achieving climate justice through just transition has been identified to be inadequate national capacity on just transition initiatives.
Capacity building can strengthen individual and institutional capacities on just transition in key areas such as policymaking, cross-sectoral coordination, and stakeholder participation. It can further enhance the ability of the public to be involved in key decisions in the journey towards just transition. It has been pointed out that participation and engagement are crucial for achieving just sustainability transitions.
Capacity building is therefore integral in achieving just transition. It is thus necessary for all countries and especially developing states to strengthen their legal, institutional, technical, human, social and financial capacity in order to embrace just transition. The above among other measures are necessary in order to achieve equitable and inclusive just transition towards climate justice.
*This is an extract from the Book: Promoting Rule of Law for Sustainable Development (Glenwood, Nairobi, January 2024) by Hon. Prof. Kariuki Muigua, OGW, PhD, Professor of Environmental Law and Dispute Resolution, Senior Advocate of Kenya, Chartered Arbitrator, Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021 (Nairobi Legal Awards), ADR Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 (CIArb Kenya), African Arbitrator of the Year 2022, Africa ADR Practitioner of the Year 2022, Member of National Environment Tribunal (NET) Emeritus (2017 to 2023) and Member of Permanent Court of Arbitration nominated by Republic of Kenya. Prof. Kariuki Muigua is a foremost Environmental Law and Natural Resources Lawyer and Scholar, Sustainable Development Advocate and Conflict Management Expert in Kenya. Prof. Kariuki Muigua teaches Environmental Law and Dispute resolution at the University of Nairobi School of Law, The Center for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP) and Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies. He has published numerous books and articles on Environmental Law, Environmental Justice Conflict Management, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Sustainable Development. Prof. Muigua is also a Chartered Arbitrator, an Accredited Mediator, the Managing Partner of Kariuki Muigua & Co. Advocates and Africa Trustee Emeritus of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators 2019-2022. Prof. Muigua is a 2023 recipient of President of the Republic of Kenya Order of Grand Warrior (OGW) Award for his service to the Nation as a Distinguished Expert, Academic and Scholar in Dispute Resolution and recognized among the top 5 leading lawyers and dispute resolution experts in Band 1 in Kenya by the Chambers Global Guide 2024 and was listed in the Inaugural THE LAWYER AFRICA Litigation Hall of Fame 2023 as one of the Top 50 Most Distinguished Litigation Lawyers in Kenya and the Top Arbitrator in Kenya in 2023.
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