As Peru prepares to submit its updated national climate plan, known as a nationally determined contribution (NDC), ahead of the annual UN climate summit (COP30) in Brazil this year, the country has a pivotal opportunity to create a climate policy that benefits Peruvian society while also protecting communities and workers employed in more traditional and carbon-intensive sectors.
This just transition approach also ensures that the benefits and consequences from climate actions are shared fairly and that vulnerable populations are supported as the country shifts to a net-zero economy.
While Peru does not currently have an official definition of just transition in its national policy framework, some local organizations have begun to shape an understanding of what it could mean for the country. For instance, organizations like the Natural Resource Governance Institute highlight that the global shift to clean energy can intensify socio-environmental conflicts associated with mineral extraction. In Peru — where minerals critical to clean energy technologies, such as copper, are abundant — this transition presents both economic opportunities and social and environmental challenges, such as increasing deforestation, loss of biodiversity and displacement of vulnerable and indigenous communities, among others.
To help Peru create a more inclusive climate policy grounded in the principles of a just transition, WRI and Peru’s Ministry of Environment (MINAM) organized inclusive dialogues in 2024 to gather perspectives from different stakeholders.
Here’s how Peru approached participatory climate planning and what resulted from these inclusive dialogues.
Citizen Participation in Planning a Just Transition
For several years now, Peru has been promoting various avenues for different groups and levels of society to participate in and promote climate action. These spaces include the National Commission on Climate Change (CNCC), the National Women’s Committee on Climate Change, the Platform for Indigenous Peoples to Confront Climate Change and the Youth Promotion Group on the CNCC.
Indigenous peoples participation in these dialogues recognizes the value of their ancestral knowledge in caring for existing ecosystems and their traditional practices in managing climate risks. Creating spaces for women to participate provides opportunities to confront gender inequalities through a just transition process as well.
The 2024 dialogues organized by WRI and MINAM included an in-person event and a webinar. The discussions were aimed at convening people with less access to formal participation, like women’s and youth organizations and Indigenous communities, with representatives from government, unions, multilateral development banks, the private sector and various grassroots and international organizations. These dialogues contributed to constructing the national position on just transition for COP29 in Azerbaijan in 2024.
“Citizen participation is crucial in planning for a just transition in Peru because it ensures that decisions reflect the needs and priorities of affected communities, fostering inclusion and equity,” said Milagros Montes, a representative of Jóvenes Peruanos frente al Cambio Climático (Peruvian Youth against Climate Change). “Youth are a key part of this process because they represent the generation that will face the greatest impacts of climate change and have the creativity, energy and vision to drive innovative solutions with global impact. Their involvement ensures that policies are resilient and aligned with a more just and sustainable future.”
Lessons Learned from Inclusive Dialogues
The dialogues provided valuable lessons on how the country can effectively integrate just transition principles into its national policies, specifically in its upcoming NDC. One key takeaway is the need to ground the concept in both national and local contexts. While the term has gained traction globally recently, it often carries perspectives shaped by narratives from wealthier nations, which may not fully align with Peru’s priorities, needs and challenges.
To address this gap, it is essential that local voices and goals have a central role when deciding on specific interventions for the transition to a low-carbon future. For example, as highlighted in the discussions, ensuring access to decent, dignified and well-paid work for communities affected by the transitions is a clear goal for the community. The future and the path towards it must reflect Peruvians’ lived realities, cultural values and socio-economic conditions. Local actors — especially those usually underrepresented in decision-making processes, such as Indigenous communities, workers, women and youth — should have opportunities to define what justice means for them in the context of climate action.
This kind of bottom-up governance could be more appropriate for promoting energy transitions and gaining public support. Identifying key stakeholders and creating safe spaces for dialogue are essential to guaranteeing effective citizen participation in transition policies.
Another lesson from the dialogues is the need to address diverse notions of justice when discussing just transitions. Discussions around this topic mostly focus on redistributive justice, which concerns the fair distribution of risks and opportunities resulting from climate action. However, there are other types to consider: restorative justice seeks to repair the damage generated by the traditional economy; procedural justice, ensures that the transition process is inclusive, transparent and equitable for all parties involved; and intergenerational justice underlines the responsibility of current generations towards future generations.
Lastly, justice-focused climate action offers a unique opportunity to address long-standing social and economic inequalities while promoting sustainable development. A just transition must prioritize those most affected by climate change and socio-economic inequalities. Climate action initiatives should aim to reduce poverty by creating green jobs, improving access to essential services and fostering equitable economic growth.
As Peru moves forward, the country can build on its existing participatory climate infrastructure to embrace a bottom-up governance approach that allows policies to be grounded in local realities and that includes communities that have historically been excluded from decision-making. While the NDC update offers a valuable opportunity to articulate the country’s commitment to a more just and equitable climate agenda, concrete efforts and actions to fulfill that commitment is what will have an impact.