Beyond Extraction: Reclaiming Finance and Technology for a Just Energy Transition

Last year, for the first time in a decade, the number of people without access to electricity increased worldwide. In a planet that is warming up, with climate action stalling, it is critical that all individuals—especially communities living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in the Global South—have access to cleaner energy. For this to happen, every country must have the capacity to build clean energy systems and industries.

Achieving this requires more than cutting emissions: it demands addressing the systemic financial, legal, and trade barriers to an energy sovereignty grounded in the needs of people in the Global South.

Currently, energy is treated not as a shared global resource, but as a commodity controlled by those who can afford to invest in it. Despite supplying critical minerals that drive the energy transition, countries in the Global South remain shut out of their full benefits. Financing continues to flow toward extraction and export, while access to cleaner energy technologies is stymied by restrictive intellectual property (IP) regimes. Outdated trade rules prioritise investor protection over public need, further constraining the industrial policy needed to overcome these inequalities.

The upcoming 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) in Seville, Spain, offers a rare opportunity to shift this paradigm. Governments and institutions must seize the moment to realign financial flows, unlock technology access, and defend the policy space necessary to build an equitable, sovereign, and climate-compatible energy future.

Redirecting Public Finance Toward Energy Sovereignty

Energy is a vital resource, like water and food, and must be accessible to all. Yet, the international financial system tends to treat energy infrastructure as a by-product of mineral exports, rather than a public good to be governed domestically. This is particularly stark in LMICs, where fossil fuel dependence and energy poverty persist despite vast renewable potential.

International public finance from Public Investment Banks (PIBs), Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) remains heavily geared toward raw material extraction and the needs of Global North “consumer regions”. Cleaner energy generation, local grid expansion, storage systems, and industrial transformation are vastly underfunded. Initiatives like the European Union’s Global Gateway rarely include binding conditions to build domestic power systems or local value chains.

To address this, public finance must support energy sovereignty: the right and capacity of countries to produce, distribute, and govern their own clean energy. This requires financing projects tied to national electrification plans, renewable baseload capacity, and the domestic manufacturing of transition technologies. Additionally, international partnerships must set new standards. Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between consumer governments and resource-rich countries must enable open licensing, technology transfer, and co-ownership of high-value projects, not just access to raw materials.

Capital alone will not solve the problem. Without the power to develop, adapt, and own cleaner energy technologies, countries remain dependent on external actors to access these technologies. Therefore, financial reform must go hand in hand with allowing just transfer of these technologies.

A TRIPS Waiver for Climate Technologies: Unlocking Autonomy

Access to climate-critical technologies—from solar panels and wind turbines to battery storage and grid integration systems—is essential for achieving energy sovereignty. However, these technologies are often locked behind restrictive IP protections under the WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, preventing countries in the Global South from producing, adapting, or scaling the technologies they need to power their economies and transition from fossil fuel dependence.

We propose a TRIPS waiver for climate technologies, modeled after the waiver for COVID-19 vaccines in 2022. This waiver would allow WTO members to suspend key IP provisions for a renewable five-year period, covering patents, licensing processes, and trade secrets. The goal is to enable local manufacturing, accelerate innovation, and empower countries to harness their own resources to build their energy future. 

However, a TRIPS waiver will only be effective if countries are protected from retaliation. Currently, many LMICs face the threat of lawsuits under investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms or challenges at the WTO for pursuing industrial policies in the public interest. Ending these litigation shackles is non-negotiable. No country should be penalised for building a cleaner, fairer, and more resilient energy and industrial ecosystems.

Share the Capital, Share the Tech

FFD4 must not become another forum of abstract pledges. The international community must recognise that energy justice requires shared ownership of the capital and technology behind the transition. So far, finance has been misdirected, and technology has been withheld behind paywalls. This combination perpetuates a global energy economy built on dependency. 

A just transition means breaking this cycle. Public finance must be redirected to support domestic energy systems and industries. Technology must be openly shared,  with licensing reform and structural support for local innovation. Clean energy must be treated as a public good, not a commodity hoarded by a few. 

The countries supplying the materials for this transition must have the tools to lead, not just fuel, the global transition to cleaner energy. This can only happen if global finance, trade, and IP regimes are realigned to serve the many, not the few. Now is the time for action. The world will be watching in Seville. Let’s make it count.