The JETP model was first announced at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021. France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union partnered with South Africa for the first JETP, consisting of a USD $8.5 billion pledge to support coal emissions reductions and clean energy infrastructure. At the 2022 G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia became the second country to announce a USD $20 billion deal. A JETP deal with Vietnam was announced shortly after in December 2022. In June 2023, Senegal became the fourth country to announce a EUR €2.5 billion deal.

While the promise of support for the transition to renewable energy is a positive development, there are significant risks associated with these deals. These range from a lack of transparency, to elite capture with conflicting interests that want to tap into this big pot of money for all kinds of false solutions.

With anything that requires a massive infrastructure shift, accountability and transparency from leadership is essential in ensuring the billions in funding are used for their intended purpose. In the case of JETPs, this means using the money for renewable energy infrastructure that benefits all communities. Such accountability and transparency is only possible when local NGOs and civil society experts can (i) participate freely and fully in public discussions, (ii) provide independent monitoring of social and environmental impacts, and (iii) support communities to advocate for their rights.

This is the “just” aspect of a just energy transition. With this in mind, financial institutions have an imperative role in paying careful attention to the situation of civil society voices in JETP recipient countries.

Resources are needed for climate action. It has taken years to get to a funding deal like Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) that considers both climate and social needs. However, the red flags in the deal and the process could undermine the justice of the transition. The danger is leaving recipient countries in situations that are worse-off, considering the debt implications and hollowing out national sovereignty.

As civil society, we call for a principles approach to financing the needs of the Just Transition and climate action. Principles are critical organising and mobilising tools to shape progressive action, drive demands and make action inclusive.

The JETP was first announced for South Africa at COP26. Since then, JETPs have been announced for Indonesia, Vietnam and Senegal with the objectives of mobilising  finance for coal-dependent countries. CSOs across the countries have all called for more transparency, accountability and inclusivity in the dealings of the International Partner Group of Donors, and the respective governments. In both South Africa and Indonesia, Principles for fair finance and just transitions have been a useful organising tool for CSOs. Where the details of JETP are not often public, and consultations are non-existent or not meaningful, principles have been a way for CSOs to gather and serve as an opportunity to build capacity being guided by collective aspirations.

In South Africa, the JETP had several public processes, but it’s not clear how inclusive the final deal will be. In Senegal false solutions like gas are considered under JETP. In Indonesia, the role of private solar power producers is risky and in Vietnam, activists have been jailed for speaking out. One common thing is that the negotiations are always behind closed doors, reinforcing unequal power dynamics between the IPG and countries in the Global South.

Coming together as recipient countries provides an opportunity to mobilise collectively and lobby as one. Especially where there are different levels of civil society freedoms in different countries. It provides the opportunity to be stronger together where a just transition must tackle existing systemic and structural barriers to change without reinforcing or recreating inequalities and power imbalances.

Principles for a Fair JETP by Recipient countries serve to shape finance by placing people at the centre of the just transition and acting as a governance and accountability mechanism by which we can collectively mobilise. These principles are intended to be a living document, and applicable at global, national and local levels. They serve as a discussion starter, or a tool to identify capacity-building needs. We welcome all forms of feedback and ideas on how to use these principles, so they remain inclusive and open.

Civil society and affected communities must be at the centre of climate justice, and importantly, in the financing deals that shape actions.