The term ‘Just Transition’ was originally created by the labour movement in the 1980s to protect workers and livelihoods as industries shifted. In an energy context, it usually brings to mind reskilling coal miners so regional towns aren’t left stranded as power stations close.
While supporting workers is vital, a feminist just transition expands the lens to consider how whole communities can benefit. It invites people in, looks to the future, and recognises that nature, our connection to it, and our responsibility to restore it sit at the heart of everything we do.
It focuses on how the shift away from fossil fuels can deliver broader social, economic, and climate justice by centering regional families, women, First Nations communities, gender-diverse people, and migrant groups who are so often left out of decision-making.
At COP30 last year in Brazil, world leaders agreed on the historic Belém-Antalya Mechanism for Just Transition, a global mandate to embed human rights, gender equality, care work, and Indigenous rights into just transition strategies – with a fair bit of the ‘how’ still needing ironing out.
Now at COP31, the goal is to make this mechanism real, binding, and fully resourced.
As President of Negotiations, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen holds significant influence over the global climate agenda. Australia has a responsibility to lead negotiations that champion this global mechanism and take bold, gender-responsive climate action back home.
The good news? The work has already been done. Global feminist advocates have already laid out a clear roadmap to operationalise this mechanism (Read the Women and Gender Constituency’s proposed implementation model). Australia doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel; our leaders just need to champion it.
The knowledge, leadership, and solutions we need for a clean, caring future are already held by women and gender-diverse people across our communities.
It is held by First Nations women caring for Country, migrant women in our urban centres, women with disabilities leading local disaster response, regional volunteers helping towns embrace renewables, queer permaculture educators, and the nurses, teachers, and aged-care workers who hold our social fabric together.
On May 1, WELA convened a Feminist Just Transitions Roundtable in Naarm (Melbourne). We brought together advocates, academics, local government, community organisers, and First Nations leaders to answer a crucial question: How do we make a feminist just transition real in Australia?
Here is what we heard and recommended:
We have captured all the insights, case studies, and policy recommendations from our Naarm convening into our new report: Feminist Just Transitions: Learning from global approaches, strengthening Australian action.
This is just the beginning. In the coming weeks, WELA will be launching an open letter calling on Minister Chris Bowen to champion the Just Transition Mechanism globally and implement the Belém Gender Action Plan here at home.
Sign up to the WELA newsletter and keep an eye on your inbox to get involved: together, we can build a clean, fair, and caring future for everyone.