UNLOCKING JUST TRANSITIONS.
Transforming systems for just and sustainable development pathways.
Southern Transitions is a climate and transition think tank working to advance just transitions in the Global South. We are focused on transformative economic opportunities for systems that are changing, emerging, and scaling up in the transition.
ABOUT US
VISION
Real pathways to just, sustainable, futures for the Global South.
MISSION
We empower decision-makers to collectively identify, open and harness real opportunities for just transitions, using evidence, experiments and new ideas.
OUR WORK
We have established a programme of work that links four key areas. We identify real transition opportunities as the Global South responds to climate change, and we formulate viable business cases for building and upgrading value chains. Climate change is a global challenge: we offer technical support in multilateral processes, to empower Global South actors to negotiate across multilateral processes. Finally, we catalyze action through our living lab — a collaborative, “do-tank” that moves just transition initiatives forward.
JUST TRANSITION TECHNICAL SUPPORT IN MULTILATERAL PROCESSES
Empower Global South actors to negotiate for and advance just transitions through multilateral processes, including the climate change negotiations (UNFCCC) and the G20.
BUILDING & UPGRADING VALUE CHAINS
Formulate viable business cases for Global South countries to harness value chain upgrading opportunities in the transition.
TRANSITION OPPORTUNITIES
Identify, characterise, and interrogate real opportunities (economic, political, and social-ecological) in the climate transition for broad, structural transformation in the Global South.
LIVING LAB
"Drive implementation of creative just transition initiatives in the Global South through partnerships, experimentation, and learning.
The leadership team has a track record for successfully developing value-adding solutions and project management.
Individually and together, team members work collaboratively and foster long-term trusted relationships, entrepreneurial spirit, and a commitment to delivering impactful solutions to meet the challenge of just transitions to net-zero development pathways.
Image: Gaylor Montmasson-Clair, Lauren Hermanus, and Anthony Dane, are the three co-founders and Directors of Southern Transitions.
How can bauxite-rich countries leverage their mineral resources for value chain upgrading and just transitions?
FEATURED REPORTS —
Guinea holds 25% of the world's bauxite reserves and is the largest producer globally, yet it captures only a fraction of the value generated along the aluminium value chain. This paradox — mineral wealth coexisting with persistent poverty — reflects decades of power imbalances, concentrated value chains, and barriers to upgrading. But change is underway.
Rising demand, geopolitical shifts, and assertive governance reforms are opening new pathways for transformation. Two complementary reports examine both the global bauxite-aluminium value chain and Guinea's bold efforts to reclaim control over its resources. Together, they reveal what it takes to move beyond raw ore exports: integrated planning across mining, energy, and industrial policy; infrastructure investment; technical capacity building; and the political courage to challenge entrenched interests. The first report maps the structure, dynamics, and upgrading opportunities across the global value chain. The second explores Guinea's new vision and recent reforms, as a test case for how mineral-rich countries can chart genuinely transformative pathways. The ore is there; these reports ask how the opportunity can be seized.