The eagerly anticipated first dialogue on the UAE Just Transition Work Program (JTWP) took place on the 2nd and 3rd of June. The topic was promising: “Lessons in incorporating Just Transition into NDCs, NAPs and LT-LEDS Breakout Discussions”. ECO couldn’t sleep due to our excitement on having meaningful exchanges about how we: secure justice for workers, communities and whole countries; and equitably phase out of fossil fuels, transform food systems, and phase in renewables. All this underpinned by the principles of CBDR and international cooperation.
However, to our disappointment, the discussion was a rehashing of old talking points. Countries seem to have forgotten they have agreed already on the social and economic transformation as part of a Just Transition! And that the national context have to shape just transition strategies. Restricted by a structure focused on NDCs and other national plans, countries presented their work in self-congratulatory “icebreaker” presentations. Truth be told, it was a very non-dialogue-y dialogue. You know that feeling when you go to a meeting thinking you are going to have a robust discussion about implementation gaps, challenges, and places of consensus for enabling a just transition, and leave thinking: this could have been an email?
Although ECO appreciated the various examples of stakeholder consultations mentioned, there is a stark difference between mere inclusivity and actual, meaningful participation. And we believe that the JTWP upholds an important moral imperative in ensuring meaningful social dialogue and participation. This dialogue should be shaped by the perspectives, priorities and needs of workers, women, Indigenous Peoples, youth, and other marginalized groups, in a way that shifts power, embeds a collective human rights framework, and considers redistributive justice.
With the first contact group on the JTWP due to take place today, ECO thinks Parties should focus on finishing the work they started in Dubai and agree on modalities and themes that will ensure we have the right conversations. The JTWP was never intended to be just a dialogue. We should use the Contact Group to agree on the themes to be discussed under the JTWP, how to ensure the meaningful inclusion of rights-holders, and establish a joint Party-Observers Advisory Body that would steer work in between sessions. ECO is ready to engage in these discussions with lots of ideas.