A just energy transition: Localization, decent work, SMMEs and sustainable livelihoods

 

This project takes a “clean energy supply” approach to contribute new knowledge on how public policy can foster decent work and sustainable livelihoods for workers, particularly women and youth engaged in micro, small and medium enterprises, clean energy generation and associated value chains. It intersects strongly with issues of access to clean energy to foster its use among micro, small and medium enterprises, with the aim of advancing concrete policy change.

The project will analyze clean energy value chains and their relationships with the rest of the economy. This approach provides an interdisciplinary framework for unpacking the complex issues in the clean energy value chain. It will trace consumption and production to the practices, history and relations that are reproduced within the clean energy value chains by analyzing them at different levels, including agents and agencies, structures, processes, relations and the cultural and contextual factors.

Using the evidence generated, the project is expected to inform public policy debates and outcomes on clean energy transition, thereby giving greater clarity as to what is needed to ensure a just transition pathway. It will empower stakeholders and build advocacy support by localizing clean energy value chains.

The Institute for Economic Justice based in South Africa will lead the implementation of the project. They will work in partnership with Just Urban Transition and the Congress of South African Trade Unions. This project will be implemented in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa.