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 during the gathering of G20 energy ministers in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. It outlines seven major questions around affordability and fairness in clean energy transitions – for example, how policies can ensure low-income and marginalised communities can afford clean energy technologies, how decent jobs for workers can be realised as transitions accelerate, and how to deliver the meaningful participation of all stakeholders in the transition process. It also presents a selection of best practices from around the world to address these matters.

Over the next phase leading up to COP 30, Commission members will collaborate on an implementation roadmap, which will outline available policy tools and options for policy makers and international stakeholders to address the seven key questions. During this phase, members will also develop a set of metrics and indicators to assess the effectiveness of implemented strategies and policies.