OPINION by Haley St. Dennis, Head of Just Transitions, Institute for Human Rights and Business
As governments pour billions into clean energy strategies, one uncomfortable truth remains: unless those on the margins are placed at the centre of climate solutions, the transition will fail – economically and environmentally.
Because the energy transition to cleaner, greener systems is not just about emissions targets; it’s about whether such sweeping changes will be accepted or resisted by people. And that comes down to who has agency in the process.
It is estimated that over two billion people worldwide work in the informal economy, without formal contracts or social protection, representing well over half of the global workforce. That staggering number alone shows the potential power of informal workers to supercharge the transition – if they are given the tools, ownership and genuine opportunities to shape it.
Haley St. Dennis
I saw this firsthand recently in the salt flats of Gujarat, India, where tens of thousands of women harvest salt under brutal desert heat – traditionally powered by diesel but now shifting to solar. Their story is not just one of emissions reduction. It is a blueprint for how the right technology, in the right hands, can unlock powerful energy transitions while creating entire new value chains and economic opportunities.
Salt: the hidden cost of a humble commodity
Salt has shaped economies for millennia. Gandhi’s 1930 Salt March began across the very Gujarat salt pans where these women are working today. Yet the industry remains defined by exploitation instead of economic opportunity.
Today, most Agariya salt farming families spend up to 60% of their income on diesel pumps to draw brine from underground, while earning as little as $2 per ton of salt – a fraction of its market value. Middlemen and fuel vendors pocket the rest, locking families into cycles of poverty and debt to supply one of the world’s most universally consumed commodities.
Solar technology as liberation
This cycle has begun to change as SEWA (the Self Employed Women’s Association) has introduced solar pumps. The clean technology slashed costs by 60% and eliminated dependence on volatile fuel supplies.
But the most radical shift wasn’t technical – it was social. To ensure women controlled the new infrastructure, SEWA trained 1,000 salt farmers in both financial literacy and solar engineering. This meant they both own and maintain their solar infrastructure. They can now install, repair and expand their own systems. Some even earn additional income bringing solar solutions to other villages.
These women run India’s first all-female solar cooperative. This year, they sold electricity back to the grid for the first time. The same women once trapped in debt by diesel vendors are now energy producers, turning survival into innovation.
Women working at the SEWA project. Photo by Oliver Gordon.
Technology as a tool for justice
The climate sector often treats technology as the only solution. But the Agariyas show that technology is only transformative when paired with ownership and agency. A solar pump is not just cleaner than a diesel one – it is a tool for shifting power, redistributing income, and enabling marginalised workers to control their futures.
If scaled across Gujarat, SEWA’s model could save 115,000 tonnes of CO2 each year; expanded across India, 400,000 tonnes. But beyond carbon metrics, it creates social dividends: women with decent work, resilient communities, and a fairer share of value from global supply chains.
More photos from the SEWA project. Picture credit: Oliver Gordon.
Why these stories matter
Salt may be humble, but its story is profound. It reminds us that the real innovation in climate solutions comes not from technology alone, but from who gets to use it, own it, and benefit from it.
The transition away from fossil fuels is inevitable. The question is whether it will simply replace one system of exploitation with another, or whether it will create new models of equity and empowerment. This is not only a question of final outcomes, but about the path we choose to get there.
In Gujarat, women salt farmers are showing us the answer. Their solar pumps aren’t just machines; they are tools for building resilience. Their cooperative power isn’t just a desert mirage; it’s a glimpse of the models we urgently need to replicate and scale globally.
The Institute for Human Rights and Business is highlighting powerful, real-world examples of just transitions in action through JUST Stories.
Each immersive feature spotlights how communities, businesses, and governments are responding to the pressures of the climate and inequality crises with solutions that are fair and feasible, demonstrating that a transition rooted in peoples’ needs and agency is necessary, achievable and good for business.
