How Local Community Power is Central
to a Just Renewable Energy Transition

The Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) is releasing a new report on effective and equitable community-led energy solutions to address challenges to a worldwide just transition away from fossil fuels. The report, How Local Community Power is Central to a Just Renewable Energy Transition, spotlights scalable global community initiatives that are advancing decentralized and democratized energy solutions.

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The report’s analysis explores some of the barriers to implementing a just transition and the complexities of shifting away from current social and economic structures. Such structures include economic systems that promote fossil fuel production (including the trillions of dollars in government fossil fuel subsidies); societal patterns characterized by overconsumption in high-income countries; and current models of utility companies that further enable fossil fuel use and discourage a transition to more affordable and beneficial energy alternatives. The authors warn that the energy transition cannot replicate the same injustices as the fossil fuel economy. Instead, this transition must prioritize ecological well-being and community-owned renewable energy projects that are rooted in democratic governance and local empowerment.