Getting the facts straight for a just and equitable energy transition

In 2023, as energy corporations manoeuvred to profit from the crisis they created, TNI worked to build knowledge and expose false narratives that threaten a truly just and equitable energy transition. A new publication dispelled the most dangerous energy policy myths: in clear language, we picked apart false claims that the private sector, free markets, cheaper prices, decentralisation, intellectual property rights, free trade and investment  are the obvious strategies for decarbonising the energy system. National case studies featuring the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, Mexico, Tunisia and the Netherlands provided concrete examples of the disastrous consequences of privatisation of energy systems and the grave risks of public-private partnerships.

The report ‘Green’ Multinationals Exposed, co-published with our allies in the European Network of Corporate Observatories, scrutinised the business models of 15 multinationals that purport to be ‘green’. Our research showed that despite such claims, the companies are still backing dirty energy in one way or the other. Many continue to engage in projects linked to human rights and environmental abuses, and all continue to manipulate public policy and public finance for private gain. We discussed the findings, as well as the paths toward a decarbonised public power system rooted in justice, solidarity and democracy, in a webinar and an online strategy meeting. The meeting drew some 40 activists from the Public Energy Alliance, an informal network working together promote the public pathways narrative.

Who is the energy transition intended to serve? Energy for what and for whom? These were some of the key questions behind the book, Dismantling Green Colonialism: Energy and Climate Justice in the Arab Region, a collection of our recent work on the issue. Using a class-conscious climate justice approach that challenges Eurocentrism, the book analysed the energy transition across diverse countries in the region, featuring new work on green hydrogen in Morocco, the greenwashing of settler colonialism in Palestine and the Jawlan, the role of the Gulf Arab states in the energy transition and the severe socioeconomic impacts of Jordan’s shift to renewable energies. Centring the voices of activists, scholars and writers from the Arab region, the book received widespread media attention and was the basis of many workshops and events across universities and public spaces in Morocco, Tunisia, the UK and Germany. In related work, we showed how IMF loans are an obstacle for a just transition in North Africa. An article on the topic, using Egypt as a case study, examined how IMF policies – ending energy subsidies, increasing VAT rates and currency devaluation – have induced inflation and benefited the richest segments of the population.

Building power for a public-led energy transition

TNI’s critical insights and analysis have contributed to a stronger narrative and a growing global movement behind public power. At the beginning of the year, we proudly launched the Energy Democracy Declaration, a key outcome of the Our Future is Public conference (2022), held in Chile. Co-published with some 20 organisations worldwide, the declaration outlines the way forward to ensure clean, affordable energy for all. By the end of the year, more than 50 organisations had endorsed it.

Our efforts to link labour and environmental justice movements is bearing fruit. In October, more than 100 climate justice activists, trade union members and representatives, labour organisers, researchers and academics from around 15 countries and 4 continents convened in Amsterdam for The Global Climate Jobs conference. The conference was an important space for alliance-building between climate, labour and social movements. TNI was involved in the coordinating committee and actively participated in a number of sessions and workshops, as well as film screenings of The Energy of Emptiness and Everything Must Change, co-created by a TNI colleague.

We brought our narrative on an inclusive and just energy transition to key social movement spaces, including the Global Thematic Social Forum (TSF) on Mining and Extractivism in Indonesia, attended by more than 300 people from frontline communities and their allies in 53 countries. TNI was proud to serve on the International Organising Committee and co-organise four workshops during the forum. This included a session with trade unions discussing industrial policy and critical minerals. In other sessions, participants discussed the threats of increased mining for renewable technologies and developed shared positions, reflected in a declaration emphasising affected communities’ ‘right to say no’ and a common action agenda to reclaim the just transition narrative. We also took our messages directly to policymakers. A side event at the UN climate conference COP28, Towards an effective, equitable and just transition in partnership with women, youth, and communities in Africa, provided a platform for direct engagement with Ugandan policymakers. The session in the Uganda Pavilion was co-hosted with the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) Uganda, among other allies.

‘Thanks to the cooperation with TNI, the Working Group for Energy Democracy (trade union activists) was able to access various spaces and form partnerships with other organisations. For example, the Working Group participated in events organised by Tunisian and international organizations, such as the conference “For a Public Future” held in Chile in 2022 and the IFI Counter-Summit in Marrakech in 2023.’

– Ilyess Ben Ammar, Working Group for Energy Democracy, Tunisia