This is the second event in the COP27 High-level Event Series co-hosted by UNCTAD, the COP27 Presidency, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion, and the Permanent Mission of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the UN in Geneva. This event is also co-hosted by the International Labour Organization and the SDG Lab.

Securing prosperity and decent jobs while delivering on the goals and objectives of the Convention and its Paris Agreement is the crux of just transition ambition. But not all countries and regions are equally placed to turn climate action into an economic and social development opportunity.

The means of implementation - finance, technology and capacity - of this mission-driven project are out of reach for many developing countries.

On top of challenges such as expanding energy access and sustaining fiscal stability, developing countries are now facing new transition risks such as stranded assets and negative spillover effects from climate action in advanced economies.
 

Questions to be addressed:

• How can a just transition not only contribute to ambitious climate action but also to social and economic benefits for all?
   
• What sort of cooperation is needed to make sure every nation and region can deliver a just transition according to its own needs and conditions?
   
• What are the potential financing frameworks needed to support just transitions in developing countries including the scale and nature of instruments, key actors, and systemic global financial reforms?
   
• What are the employment opportunities and costs of a shift to renewable energy in developing countries?
   

Programme

Moderator: Dr Richard Kozul-Wright, Director of the Globalization and Development Strategies Division, UNCTAD

Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for Egypt and UN Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Carla Montesi, Director for Green Deal & Digital Agenda, DG International Partnerships, European Commission

Moustapha Kamal Gueye, Global Coordinator, Green Jobs Programme, International Labour Organization

Kate Hughes, Senior Climate Change Specialist, Asian Development Bank and current chair of the joint MDB working group on Just Transition

Rob Davies, former Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa

Alison Tate, Director of Economic and Social Policy, International Trade Union Confederation

Ambassador Mohamed Nasr, Director of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development Department, Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and on the COP27 Presidency Team

Live interpretation available in Arabic, French and Spanish