‘Just Transition’ in the Global South: Mission Impossible? The Perils of the Transition in Mexico and Ecuador

Resumen

Historically, ‘ just transition’ speaks to concerns of workers of ‘ dirty industries’ in the Global North in the light of environmental regulations and (possible) impacts on their working conditions and job positions. Increasingly, the concept is used to highlight issues of social justice in transitions to a low-carbon economy based on renewable energy sources. Focusing on the juncture triggered by the current climate change-driven stage of global capitalism, we emphasise the tension that arises between the notions of ‘national development’, ‘global sustainability’, and a ‘ just transition’, and argue that current transition politics and pathways tend to (re)produce extractivist and rentier logics as well as socioecological conflicts in the Global South. We illustrate our argument by delving into the political economy and political ecology of contemporary Mexico and Ecuador, where we also identify the perils of following transition pathways that limit a ‘ just transition’.