Home » From Principles to Practice: Reflections from London Climate Action Week 2026

From Principles to Practice: Reflections from London Climate Action Week 2026

July 7, 2026

International Network Coordinator Juanita Fonseca-Duffo presenting at a strategic roundtable during LCAW 2026.

London Climate Action Week 2026 hosted over 1300 events and brought together policymakers, investors, researchers, industry leaders, civil society organisations and practitioners from around the world to accelerate climate action. Representing the JustRE Alliance, International Network Coordinator Juanita Fonseca-Duffo joined to meet with various partners and RE stakeholders to explore practical approaches to social performance, benefit sharing and community ownership.

Throughout the week, Juanita participated in a range of events and strategic conversations that reinforced the importance of moving beyond high-level principles toward practical implementation – showcasing what is already working, identifying where improvements are needed and strengthening collaboration across actors and regions to ensure the energy transition delivers meaningful, long-term benefits for communities.

Building momentum around community ownership and benefit sharing

Amongst the wide range of events attended, these key events stood out:

Strategic Roundtable with key stakeholders, exploring practical approaches to community ownership and benefit sharing in renewable energy projects
Offshore Wind Strategy Workshop, discussing practical implementation of community ownership and benefit-sharing models.
Beyond Fossil Fuels’ session on delivering socioeconomic benefits from offshore wind, which explored how renewable energy deployment can maximise long-term social and economic value for communities.

Across these engagements, discussions consistently focused on practical implementation – moving beyond broad commitments towards approaches that can be applied across different country and project contexts.

Key insights from the week

In conversations with various stakeholders and actors from across the globe, several themes emerged repeatedly.

The conversation is evolving

The conversation is increasingly shifting from the technical and financial gaps to how its social acceptance and benefit sharing schemes are key for the deployment and acceleration of large-scale renewables across the globe, especially in the Global South. Participants recognised that achieving climate goals at the pace required will depend on ensuring communities experience tangible, long-term benefits from renewable energy development.

Community engagement must begin early

Meaningful community engagement enables communities to participate in decision-making, strengthens governance, builds trust, reduces conflict and ultimately contributes to more successful and durable project outcomes.

There is no single model for community ownership

While community ownership continues to receive growing attention, discussions reinforced that successful approaches must be tailored to local contexts, governance systems and community priorities – creating flexible models that respond to diverse realities.

Evidence matters

There is increasing interest across the sector in strengthening the evidence base around community ownership and benefit-sharing. Better understanding both the value created through effective approaches and the costs of inadequate engagement will help inform policy, implementation and investment decisions.

Capacity building remains essential

Building the capacity of communities, governments and industry continues to emerge as a critical enabler of equitable renewable energy deployment.

Looking ahead

The discussions throughout London Climate Action Week reaffirmed the importance of the JustRE Alliance’s mission to advance socially grounded renewable energy transitions.

Building on this momentum, we continue our work including developing an industry brief, expanding dissemination of the Community Ownership Taxonomy, convening Community of Practice sessions, strengthening partnerships with local organisations and continuing conversations with industry and other stakeholders to support practical implementation of community ownership and benefit-sharing approaches.

We also see significant opportunities to expand the JRA Leadership Programme which aims to equip practitioners with the knowledge and practical tools needed to advance more equitable renewable energy transitions.

As conversations increasingly shift from ambition to implementation, the JustRE Alliance remains committed to ensuring that the transition to renewable energy is not only rapid, but also just, inclusive and socially grounded.