Opinion: Just Energy Transition – a Buzz or a Reality?

Dr. Reem El Sherif and Ruusa Nandago

The Just Energy Transition (JET), a concept that has been buzzing in the world’s corridors, is nothing new and was initially coined in the 1980s.

With that, one must ask – why are we hearing more about it now? What does it mean? RMB Namibia unpacked some of these questions at COP28 with senior government and private sector officials from both local and international spheres.

As pressure mounts to achieve the Paris Agreement goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius or less countries, especially developing nations, are tactfully thinking about the socio-economic implications that an abrupt change to greener and cleaner economies could bear while facing the dual pressure of boiling socio-economic risks.

Namibia, for example, is a net sink economy while at the same time faces substantial socio-economic challenges arising from the triple challenge of unemployment, inequality and poverty.