As the global community accelerates efforts toward a low-carbon future, the concept of a just transition has emerged as a cornerstone of climate and development policy. Despite its growing attention and increasing traction, particularly in the global North, examples of the operationalisation of just transition principles remain emerging. In the global South, this is characterised by the challenge of integrating gendered dimensions of justice in just transition policies.

By examining lessons from the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across the Global South, this paper offers a point of departure for the African context in particular. Case studies explored in this paper, from Odisha to Mpumalanga and from Kenya to Nepal, demonstrate that when women are engaged as co-creators of policy and their knowledge and leadership are recognised, transition efforts become more equitable, resilient, and effective. Overall, they show that operationalising a gender-just transition in the global South requires a fundamental shift from high-level policy ambition to grounded, inclusive, and context-specific action. In Africa, where the intersection of gender, race, class, geography, and historical marginalisation and a rapidly increasing youth population shapes how different groups experience both the burdens and benefits of climate and energy transitions, this is of particular relevance.

This paper concludes that lessons from SDG implementation provide more than a set of goals—they offer a tested, adaptable framework for embedding gender justice into the heart of Africa’s just transition agenda. By drawing on these lessons and centring the voices, needs, and leadership of women and marginalised communities, African countries can move beyond symbolic inclusion toward structural transformation.