Innovative financial tools are needed to allow communities to access financing to enable their adaptive and resilience strategies. International climate finance thus far has been centered on increasing renewable energy generation in the South. However, this has done little to address the existing and still growing operation of dirty fossil-powered plants. Communities need to be able to access adequate financing to not only invest in new projects but provide a secure pathway to transition off fossil fuels. Initiatives, such as the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), recognize the political, social and institutional barriers involved in such a transition and endeavors to direct the funds toward reducing the risks of the transition, particularly on workers and communities that are dependent on these fossil fuel industries. In this panel, we explore the different financial instruments and tools that can help facilitate the ‘just’ transition and what needs to be done to further encourage investments towards a clean energy transition in the Global South.

Across the world, and throughout the United States, communities are grappling with the growing fallout of climate induced disasters and ecological change. In trying to combat these issues, popular input and buy-in are essential. Many marginalized communities have been, both explicitly and implicitly, excluded from policy discussions surrounding climate reforms. And yet, because of the existential nature of the climate crisis and the protracted reality of democratic participation, the goals of democracy and the climate can also conflict with each other. NIMBYism can serve to blunt local climate reforms. Developed nations can use referendums and democratic initiatives to promote nationalistic or even xenophobic responses to ecological crises. And local communities can have mixed reactions to top-down interventions. All of this presents a unique challenge in figuring out how to tackle climate change moving forward.