Trade unionists and climate activists are calling for a new framework, known as the Just Transition Mechanism, to be adopted at COP31 in Türkiye to ensure workers and communities are not left behind.

Motorbikes, Thailand (Photo: shankar s. / Flickr [CC BY 2.0])

Transition

In September, about 500 workers in Thailand’s conventional automotive parts industry, which supplies parts for petrol and diesel vehicles, stood in the heat outside Government House in Bangkok.

Holding union flags representing workers from different plants – many owned by Japanese automakers such as Honda, Toyota and Mitsubishi – they called for state support amid concerns over the risk of job losses, resulting from the Thai government’s aggressive promotion of electric vehicle (EV) production.

“This is the industry I have built my life around. But now we have fewer orders, followed by reduced working hours, lower bonuses and job losses,” said Tawatch Pakdeesakonwong, 51, a union member and worker at a Honda factory who entered the industry straight from vocational school three decades ago.

“We are not against the EV transition. We demand a just transition that we can all go through together.”

Long dubbed the “Detroit of Asia,” Thailand is Southeast Asia’s largest automotive production hub, traditionally dominated by Japanese manufacturers producing vehicles powered by combustion engines. The industry experienced major waves of relocation in the late 1980s.

But under pressure to meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, Thailand began promoting the EV industry in the early 2020s, targeting EVs to account for 30% of vehicle production and 50% of new vehicle registrations by 2030.

Through government subsidies and tax incentives, the shift from fossil fuel-powered vehicles to electric vehicles has attracted Chinese EV manufacturers to relocate production to Thailand and increased EV imports from China.

Electric car charging (Photo: Ivan Radic / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY 2.0])

This transition has left traditional automakers and parts suppliers struggling to compete, raising concerns about job security for more than 850,000 workers in the automotive industry.

Union members argue that the Thai government provides excessive subsidies for Chinese EVs while failing to enforce regulations that would protect local jobs and promote domestic sourcing of materials.

“As much as it is our employers’ responsibility to keep their businesses running, it is also our government’s responsibility to establish fair trade rules for the auto-parts industry,” Tawatch added.

The demands of Thai auto-parts workers echo a broader global call for a “Just Transition Mechanism,” a framework designed to ensure an inclusive shift to a low-carbon economy, thus placing workers, communities and vulnerable groups at the center of the transition.

The upcoming COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9-20 is expected to be a key battleground for negotiations on the framework, as global trade unionists and climate activists urge parties to adopt the mechanism to ensure the road to net zero is fair, inclusive and leaves no one behind.

What is the Just Transition Mechanism?

The Just Transition Mechanism (JTM), also known as the Belém-Antalya Mechanism, is a United Nations framework designed to ensure that the global phase-out of fossil fuels does not devastate workers’ livelihoods, Indigenous territories, communities or emerging economies, while keeping the economy viable.

First developed at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, and further discussed at the Bonn climate conference in June 2026, the JTM draft text aims to establish global rules for protecting workers’ rights and community livelihoods.

COP30 illumination at the Brazilian National Congress (Photo: Agência Senado / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 4.0])

The mechanism is the result of a long-standing push by climate negotiators since 2018, in response to the lack of progress on just transition policies, which have remained voluntary and fragmented, with limited progress tracking.

Although the 2015 Paris Agreement mentions the concept of a just transition, it does not establish a specific mechanism to implement it.

The draft text will be further discussed at COP31 in Türkiye, where civil society groups hope to see the adoption of the JTM as a new framework for international climate cooperation under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – an international treaty adopted in 1992 to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations and prevent human activities from dangerously disrupting the Earth’s climate system.

What does JTM mean in practice?

In the transportation sector, for example, shifting from fossil fuel-powered vehicles to EVs requires initiatives to support workers through reskilling and job transfers, helping to mitigate sudden job losses.

The same approach should extend throughout the automotive supply chain, including upholding human rights in the critical minerals sector, which supplies materials used to produce EV batteries.

Reports have documented severe human rights violations in conflict-affected areas such as Myanmar, where a rare earth mining company reportedly used prisoners and victims of human trafficking for forced labor.

Occupational safety is another key focus of a just transition, including ensuring safe working conditions for workers exposed to extreme weather, such as heat and floods.

Several reports have highlighted the impact of extreme heat on workers. In March, for example, more than 70 handbag factory workers in Cambodia fainted while working in poorly ventilated conditions with inadequate protection from the heat.

Factory workers heading home (Photo: Better Work Programme / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

“The JTM will help support climate implementation while also giving workers rights to organize in trade unions and have dialogue,” said Bert De Wel, Climate Policy Officer at the International Trade Union Confederation, the world’s largest international trade union federation.

“Trade unions need a place at the climate negotiation table.”

The JTM would help countries work together by sharing knowledge, providing technical support and building capacity. However, its institutional design, including how it would operate and the financial obligations of UNFCCC member countries, will require further negotiation.

Will the JTM delay climate action?

From a civil society perspective, the JTM could help bring the world closer to the 1.5°C climate goal by encouraging stakeholders to work together on climate action while ensuring that workers and affected communities are not left behind.

Imagine a community that has relied on the coal industry for the past 50 years. Phasing out coal would affect not only the companies operating coal mines and power plants, but also their workers and surrounding businesses, such as restaurants and shops that depend on their spending.

As countries move to phase out coal by 2050, companies face pressure to shift towards renewable energy, while workers worry about losing their jobs and livelihoods.

Without a plan to address these concerns, the transition could face resistance from workers, businesses and communities that fear being left behind. A just transition framework could help governments and other stakeholders plan for these changes, protect workers’ rights, develop alternative business models and livelihoods and coordinate support for affected communities.

Coal mine, Indonesia (Photo: International Labour Organization / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

When people have a clearer path forward and know their concerns are being addressed, they may be more willing to support the transition. In this way, the JTM could help remove some of the social and economic barriers to climate action, making it easier for countries to move away from fossil fuels.

“Just transition needs to help us achieve multiple objectives, including phasing out fossil fuel, achieving climate justice and also securing the availability for countries to secure prosperity for their people, so just transition is the key,” explained Anabella Rosemberg, senior advisor on Just Transition Climate Action Network International.

The JTM has also been promoted alongside the Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels (TAFF) roadmap, another climate initiative announced at COP30 to push for global commitments to phase out fossil fuels outside the traditional UN negotiation process, where consensus has often been difficult to reach.

UN climate talks have faced criticism for allowing fossil fuel interests, including private companies and governments, to influence negotiations and maintain the status quo. The TAFF has been welcomed as “a breath of fresh air,” offering countries seeking more ambitious climate action a new space to work together. Its first meeting took place in April in Santa Marta, Colombia.

Will the JTM face a deadlock at COP31?

Although the JTM is welcomed by many countries, there is friction between high-income and middle- and low-income countries. Interestingly, the host country, Türkiye, ranked among the top 10 worst countries for workers in 2025, according to the International Trade Union Confederation.

A powerful bloc of developing countries, led by the G77+China, which includes Mekong countries such as Thailand and Viet Nam, and the African Group, strongly supports the JTM. They prefer a centralized UN body backed by financial contributions from wealthy nations.

G77 meeting, Austria (2024) (Photo: IAEA Imagebank / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY 2.0])

They also demand a mechanism to secure grant-based funding rather than loans that risk putting developing countries into debt, as well as technology transfers from developed nations.

During a Just Transition Forum Asia webinar in September, Cambodian government representatives also openly called on the high-income countries to support the JTM. India has shown strong support as well.

Meanwhile, wealthier economies, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the European Union, have expressed concerns about additional financial obligations, on top of existing commitments through mechanisms such as the Loss and Damage Fund and the Green Climate Fund.

They prefer a lighter approach that focuses on sharing policy tools and technical expertise rather than making new financial commitments.

During the June 2026 Bonn climate talks, Japan and the United Kingdom argued that existing work on just transition should be mapped before developing the new mechanism. This position drew criticism from civil society groups, which said the countries’ stance could delay the JTM’s development.

Norway argued that just transition efforts would be better advanced by strengthening existing institutions rather than creating a new body, which could take years to become operational.

With global labor unions warning that a transition without worker protections could trigger a widespread economic backlash and resistance to climate policies, the outcome of JTM negotiations at COP31 will shape how countries manage the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Writer: Nicha Wachpanich (for Mekong Eye)