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. The concept can be considered an ecological application of economic conversion, which was developed in the 1980s when anti-war activists sought to build a coalition with military workers and give them a stake in the peace economy.
Climate goals and global climate change agreements set standards for a clean economy. In the process, sectors such as energy, manufacturing, agriculture, and forestry, which employ millions of workers, must restructure. There is a concern that periods of economic structural change in the past have left ordinary workers, their families, and communities to bear the costs of the transition to new ways of producing wealth, leading to unemployment, poverty, and exclusion for the working class, in contrast to business owners who are able to afford the transition. Just Transition addresses this concern by promoting sustainable actions that help workers. Uniting social and climate justice by means of a Just Transition means to comply with demands for fairness for coal workers in coal-dependent developing regions who lack employment opportunities beyond coal; fairness for workers in emerging economies that demand their share of the “industrialisation dividend”; fairness for those having to leave their homes as sea levels rise and engulf coastal regions and islands as a consequence of climate change; fairness for populations affected by the air pollution and broader environmental impacts of coal use etc. For example, the Green New Deal outlines goals to protect the climate, and a Just Transition framework outlines strategies to accomplish these goals while protecting workers.
It has been endorsed internationally by governments in different arenas, including the International Labour Organization 's 2015 "Guidelines on a Just Transition towards environmentally-sustainable economies and societies for all," the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 's Paris Agreement, and the Katowice Climate Conference 's 2018 Solidarity and Just Transition Silesia Declaration.

Policies

For trade unions, the term Just Transition describes the transition towards a climate‐resilient and low‐carbon economy that maximizes the benefits of climate action while minimizing hardships for workers and their communities. According to the International Trade Union Confederation, needs relevant to a Just Transition will vary in different countries, though overarching policies that are countries need to enact exist, including:
The term 'just transition' was first coined by North American unions in the 1990s to describe a support system for workers unemployed due to environmental protection policies.
One early proponent was Tony Mazzocchi:
The term's further evolution is described in an article published by the International Journal on Labour Research:

Broadening use

In the past years, a number of organizations have deployed the concept of a Just Transition with respect to environmental and/or climate justice. As unions began to insert the concept of just transition into UNFCCC negotiations and the climate change movement, just transition has evolved into a deliberate push for a transition to both environmentally and socially sustainable employment opportunities and economies. Sometimes refer quite closely to the labor component of a Just Transition, while others ignore it. In the latter case, "just" simply refers to the necessity of protecting the environment as a public good from private industries that degrade its long term health.
The term "just" has also been applied to concerns about ending war and building a peacetime economy.
The concept of Just Transition in moving towards a low‐carbon and climate‐resilient economy has later, in particular by trade unions, been used also in relation to digitalization.

Accomplishments

In 2015, the ILO published its “Guidelines for a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all,” including guiding principles for a just transition such as the need for strong social consensus and social dialogue, and the importances of fostering international cooperation. The guidelines build upon the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda’s four pillars of social dialogue, social protection, workers’ rights, and employment, highlighting the role of workers, employers, and the government as the main active partners in ensuring just transition. This document calls on international governments to integrate just transition principles into methods for reaching the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, increase access to labor market data, encourage collaboration between relevant national ministries, etcetera.
In April 2015, the Rockefeller Family Fund and the Appalachian Funders Network formed the Just Transition Fund to help communities impacted by the changing coal sector take advantage of President Obama’s POWER Initiative. Through direct investments and direct technical assistance, the Fund’s grants have helped direct almost $24 million of federal funds toward just transition projects.
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 implement proceed with its implementation and consider the issue of just transition when drafting and implementing parties' Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs.