Designing for fairness

The IEA is convening a new Global Commission on People-Centred Clean Energy Transitions: Designing for Fairness to develop actionable policy recommendations for energy and climate ministers and international decision makers on how to fully integrate the principle of fairness into the design of all clean energy policies.

The new Commission is co-chaired by Teresa Ribera, Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, and Alexandre Silveira de Oliveira, Brazil’s Minister of Mines and Energy. It comprises energy, climate and labour leaders from governments around the world, along with high-level representatives from international organisations and labour, Indigenous, youth and civil society groups.

Building on the recommendations issued in 2021 by the first Global Commission on People-Centred Clean Energy Transitions, members will seek to identify strategies to ensure all energy transition policies reflect the principle of fairness and help improve energy affordability, drawing on international best practices and their own experiences. It will also seek to establish key mechanisms for monitoring and measuring the effectiveness of these policy tools, as well as the social impacts of transitions more broadly.

The launch of the Commission was first announced at the Global Summit on People-Centred Clean Energy Transitions hosted by the IEA at its headquarters in April 2024. The IEA will act as the Commission’s main coordinator and administrative body. It will also undertake specific analysis or research as requested by the Commission’s members.

The Commission’s first output, Key policy design considerations for affordable and fair transitions, was launched at the first meeting of the Global Commission, taking place directly before the G20 Energy Transitions Ministerial programme in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. This helped elevate key issues explored by the Commission, which was followed by the approval of the Principles for Just and Inclusive Energy Transitions by G20 Energy Ministers. These principles were later endorsed by G20 Leaders at the final G20 Leaders Summit in Rio. 

Over the next phase leading up to COP 30, Commission members will collaborate to produce a Blueprint for Action on Fair and Affordable Transitions, which will include a compendium of detailed case studies, data and analysis to support these examples, and explore possible metrics that governments could use to track the effectiveness of implemented policies.