How Can the IDB Support a Real and Just Energy Transition for Latin America and the Caribbean?

In the first half of 2025, the IDB Working Group prepared a report summarizing discussions from a series of roundtables organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). These sessions invited civil society organizations (CSOs) to share perspectives on the IDB’s role in the Just Energy Transition (JET) in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The IDB Working Group, a coalition of regional and international civil society organizations, welcomed the IDB’s efforts to engage with civil society and foster dialogue around its energy plans and initiatives. However, it also criticized the IDB’s continued support for fossil fuel infrastructure — through both projects and technical assistance — which contradicts the goals of the Paris Agreement. The report further highlights the lack of a clear, actionable roadmap to guide the IDB’s energy sector strategy.

Below is a summary of the report’s key recommendations: 

1. Adopt a role as a regional catalyst. The IDB should provide both the space and technical means for dialogue and coordination toward a regional JET that incorporates local, regional, and national dimensions. In this effort, the IDB’s role should go beyond that of a financial facilitator to instead serve as a platform for an ambitious transition grounded in social and environmental justice.
2. Develop an action plan for the energy sector. This sectoral plan should outline IDB's institutional commitments and goals for the energy sector, set measurable indicators for progress, and define exclusion criteria for harmful or high-risk investments. It should also be developed through a participatory process with CSOs to consider local realities across subregions and countries.
3. Promote a regional energy taxonomy. The IDB should help establish a regional classification system for energy sources, technologies, and infrastructure — one that excludes fossil fuels and reflects the region’s specific needs.
4. Update the IDB’s Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP). The upcoming 2026 update of the CCAP should align closely with the energy sector strategy, set ambitious and measurable goals for climate action, and clearly outline how to integrate climate considerations across sectors such as energy, health, public services, and biodiversity measurement. Civil society participation should be central to this process.
5. Strengthen safeguard implementation. The IDB should more closely supervise client compliance with its Environmental and Social Policy Framework, particularly in the private sector, where numerous problematic cases have been reported. 
6. Push for a more just energy transition among LAC countries. The IDB should advocate for the systematic integration of JET principles in its Country Strategies. This includes improving stakeholder engagement during the development of country strategy documents and translating commitments to justice and inclusion into concrete operational measures.
7. Promote a bottom-up approach. The IDB should prioritize decentralized and participatory energy models that respond to community needs and share benefits equitably.
8. Reframe its mining approach. The IDB should re-evaluate and better systematize its approach in the mining of critical minerals to prioritize ecosystem protection and community well-being over extractive supply chains. 

BIC and its partners in the IDB Working Group urge the IDB Group to consider these recommendations to define a clear, consistent, and ambitious approach to the JET in Latin America and the Caribbean. While we appreciate the IDB’s openness to dialogue, it must now move from discussion to action to become a regional leader in a just energy transition. 

Download the full report here.