Just transition

Just transition is a framework developed by the trade union movement to encompass a range of social interventions needed to secure workers' rights and livelihoods when economies are shifting to sustainable production, primarily combating climate change and protecting biodiversity. In Europe, advocates for a just transition want to unite social and climate justice, for example, for coal workers in coal-dependent developing regions who lack employment opportunities beyond coal.
Definition
In the past years, a number of organizations have deployed the concept of a Just Transition with respect to environmental and/or climate justice.
With regards to climate change mitigation, the IPCC defines just transition as follows: "A set of principles, processes and practices that aim to ensure that no people, workers, places, sectors, countries or regions are left behind in the transition from a high-carbon to a low carbon economy."
History
In the 1980s, “in the United States, Tony Mazzocchi of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union proposed a “Superfund for Workers,” which would compensate and retrain those who moved out of environmentally hazardous jobs. It’s widely believed that Mazzocchi was the first to use the term just transition, and this superfund was meant to parallel the U.S. Superfund Act of 1980 — national legislation to tax corporations to clean up hazardous waste sites across the country.”
In policy
International policy
At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, France, or COP 21, unions and just transition advocates convinced the Parties to include language regarding just transition and the creation of decent work in the Paris Agreement’s preamble.
At the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland, or COP 24, the Heads of State and Government adopted the Solidarity and Just Transition Silesia Declaration, highlighting the importance of just transition as mentioned in the Paris Agreement, the ILO's Guidelines, and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Declaration encourages all relevant United Nations agencies to proceed with its implementation and consider the issue of just transition when drafting and implementing parties' nationally determined contributions, or NDCs.
At COP26, the European Investment Bank announced a set of just transition common principles agreed upon with multilateral development banks, which also align with the Paris Agreement. The principles refer to focusing financing on the transition to net zero carbon economies, while keeping socioeconomic effects in mind, along with policy engagement and plans for inclusion and gender equality, all aiming to deliver long-term economic transformation.
The African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Council of Europe Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, New Development Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank are among the multilateral development banks that have vowed to uphold the principles of climate change mitigation and a Just Transition. The World Bank Group also contributed.
European Union mechanism
In the European Union, the concerns facing workers in fossil fuel industries are addressed by the Just Transition mechanism in the European Green Deal. The funding and mechanism helps fossil fuel-dependent regions within the European Union to transition to a greener economy.
A just transition from coal is supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Climate litigation
A 2021 review of legal theories for climate litigation and a just transition, recommended using accountability litigation against companies in industries that would lose work.
References
Further reading
Stevis, Dimitris (2021) Labour Unions and Environmental Justice: The Trajectory and Politics of Just Transition. In Coolsaet, B. (ed) Environmental Justice: Key Issues, London and New York: Earthscan/Routledge
Bell, Karen (2020), Working-Class Environmentalism: An Agenda for a Just and Fair Transition to Sustainability, London: Palgrave
Hampton, Paul (2015), Workers and Trade Unions for Climate Solidarity, London and New York: Routledge
Morena, Edouard, Dunja Krause and Dimitris Stevis (2020), Just Transitions: Social Justice in the Shift Towards a Low-Carbon World, London: Pluto
Räthzel, Nora and David Uzzell (2013), Trade Unions in the Green Economy: Working for the Environment, London and New York: Earthscan/Routledge
United Nations Global Compact, International Chamber of Shipping, International Transport Workers' Federation: Mapping a Maritime Just Transition (2022) https://www.ics-shipping.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Position-Paper-Mapping-a-Maritime-Just-Transition-for-Seafarers-%E2%80%93-Maritime-Just-Transition-Task-Force-2022-OFFICIAL.pdf
External links
EU Just Transition Mechanism
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Green jobs, safe jobs, Hazards magazine
Climate justice
Low-carbon economy