Takeaways from the ‘Just Transitions and Economic Diversification’ workstream of the Academic Dialogue of the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels

As countries move to transition away from fossil fuels, ensuring that this shift is both socially just and economically resilient is becoming an increasingly urgent challenge. How can governments, workers, communities, and international actors work together to deliver transitions that create decent livelihoods, strengthen local economies, and avoid reproducing existing inequalities? 

This event summary report synthesises key insights from the ‘Just Transitions and Economic Diversification’ workstream of the Global Science & Policy Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels – the academic dialogue and pre-conference to the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels – held in Santa Marta, Colombia in April 2026. Bringing together representatives from labour, academia, policymaking, and civil society across multiple regions and disciplines, the discussions explored how transition pathways can better respond to the realities of workers, communities, and local economies on the ground. 

The report identifies seven overarching recommendations for advancing just transitions and economic diversification, namely: 

1. Institutionalise mechanisms for social dialogue that respect territorial realities 

2. Undertake worker-centred planning that accounts for informal and reproductive labour 

3. Support access to, and capacity-building for, credible and context-specific transition modelling and analytical tools 

4. Undertake sequenced and context-specific strategies for economic diversification 

5. Strengthen collaborative governance across scales and regions, including South-to-South partnerships 

6. Embed justice concerns in transition finance mechanisms and debt-related arrangements 

7. Integrate just transition principles across multilateral processes and ensure practical implementation on the ground 

Within these recommendations, the report highlights practical examples, experiences, and case studies shared by participants from across regions, including Colombia, India, Brazil, Chile, and Europe. This includes reflections from COOMUSTIER, a cooperative organisation in the Colombian Caribbean formed by former coal workers, whose experience demonstrates how labour reconversion for just transitions must go beyond retraining alone to support empowerment, territorial stability, and the creation of new livelihoods. 

Read the full report to explore key recommendations, lessons learned, and emerging approaches for delivering more equitable and inclusive transitions away from fossil fuels.