Asia, Including India, Urged to Speed Up the Shift to Renewable Energy Before COP31: Just Transition and Climate Equity Explained
At a gathering in Bangkok, Thailand, climate activists and officials called on Asian countries, including India, to move faster from fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) to renewable energy such as solar and wind.
They asked for the shift to be equitable, meaning fair to workers, poor households and communities that depend on fossil fuel jobs. This idea is called a just transition.
They also demanded accountability from developed nations, meaning rich countries should cut their own emissions faster and deliver the climate finance (money for climate action) they have promised to developing countries.
The call comes ahead of COP31, the next UN climate summit, to be held in Antalya, Turkey, in November 2026. Turkey holds the presidency and Australia leads the negotiations under a hosting deal.
For India, the issue matters because coal still produces most of its electricity, even though non-fossil sources already make up more than half of its installed power capacity.
Just Transition: A Fair Shift to Clean Energy
A just transition means moving from a polluting, fossil fuel based economy to a clean, low-carbon economy in a way that is fair to everyone. "Just" here means fair, not "only". The idea is that workers, families and regions that depend on coal, oil and gas should not be left jobless and poor when the world moves to clean energy. In short, the climate must be protected without leaving anyone behind.
The Bangkok call for a rapid but "equitable" shift to renewables is a call for a just transition across Asia. Activists want the shift to protect coal-dependent workers and poor communities, and they want rich countries to provide the money that makes such a fair shift possible. For India, with coal regions like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, this is the central challenge of its energy transition.
Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC)
CBDR-RC is a basic principle of global climate law. It says every country must help protect the climate, but not every country must do the same amount. Rich countries polluted the most in the past and have more money and technology, so they must do more and help poorer countries. Developing countries like India rely on this principle when they ask rich nations to lead on emission cuts and climate finance.
The demand for "accountability from developed nations" is a CBDR-RC argument. Asian activists say rich countries must cut emissions first and pay for the transition in poorer countries, because they caused most of the problem and have the most capacity to fix it.
UNFCCC and the Conference of the Parties (COP)
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the main world treaty on climate change, agreed in 1992. The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the yearly meeting of all countries that have joined it. It is the treaty's highest decision-making body, where agreements like the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement were made. Each COP is hosted by a different country, rotating among five UN regional groups.
The Bangkok meeting is part of the build-up to COP31. Civil society groups and officials are setting out Asia's demands, on renewables, fairness and finance, so they can press them at the summit in Antalya.
- Meeting venue: Bangkok, Thailand; call for rapid and equitable renewable energy transition across Asia
- COP31: Antalya, Turkey, November 2026; Turkey holds the presidency, Australia leads negotiations
- India: 50% non-fossil installed power capacity reached in June 2025 (target year was 2030)
- India's targets: 500 GW non-fossil capacity by 2030; net zero by 2070; 60% non-fossil capacity by 2035 (updated NDC)
- ILO Just Transition Guidelines: 2015; Silesia Declaration: COP24 (2018); Just Transition Work Programme: COP27 (2022); Belém Action Mechanism: COP30 (2025)
- First JETP: South Africa, COP26 Glasgow, 2021
- New climate finance goal (COP29, 2024): at least US$300 billion a year by 2035