Just Transition

21 June 2025

For a few years now, a number of people have asked to read my masters dissertation. I’ve been hesitant to share it at times out of the belief that its academic depth makes it boring. However, the time has come for you to get a taste of the work I toiled over for much of 2022. Here, you’ll find an excerpt from my masters dissertation, Exploring the intersection between the concepts of circular economy and just transition: An analysis of the textile and fashion industry.

A just transition recognises the need for equity and justice to underpin the shift to a net zero carbon economy, particularly for those with restricted access to energy and workers in the fossil fuel industry (Heffron & McCauley, 2018; Newell & Mulvaney, 2013). The term “just transition” first arose in the 1980s, when used by global trade unions to advocate for green jobs in the transition away from fossil fuel production and use (McCauley & Heffron, 2018). According to the International Labour Organization (2015), a just transition should contribute towards decent work for everyone, social inclusion, and poverty eradication. A framework proposed to enable policies to promote decent job creation includes the anticipation of employment impacts, social protection for job loss, the development of skills, and social dialogue (International Labour Organization, 2015). While employment has historically been the central theme of the concept of just transition, it now goes beyond this, with the potential for uniting climate, energy, and environmental justice, promoting fairness and reducing societal inequalities (Heffron & McCauley, 2018; McCauley & Heffron, 2018). Newell and Mulvaney (2013) argue for this need to integrate social concerns in a just transition, conceptualising it to include the strengthening of resilience and adaptive capacity, and collaboration amongst the climate justice, environment, and labour movements. This would enable a just transition to promote justice that is sustained across multiple generations.

The notion of a just transition acts as an umbrella for many different forms of justice that sit underneath it. For example, some scholars argue that bringing together environmental, climate, and energy justice under the concept of “just transition” would facilitate distributional, procedural, and restorative justice for the benefit of the environment, society, and the economy in the transition to a net zero carbon economy (Agyeman et al., 2016; Heffron & McCauley, 2018; McCauley & Heffron, 2018). A socially just transition to a net zero carbon economy can thus help to address the tensions that exist between the justice, labour, and sustainability movements (Ciplet & Harrison, 2020; Kenfack, 2019; Wang & Lo, 2021). The long-standing jobs versus climate debate continues to present an issue for transitioning to a net zero carbon economy; however, a just transition confronts this tension by considering livelihoods and security to be two important socio-political factors to be preserved in the transition (Kenfack, 2019). Along with this, just transition addresses the socio-environmental issues of domestic and international inequality, declining worker rights, and rapid climate change (Ciplet & Harrison, 2020). To assist in solving tensions and finding middle ground between the views of different stakeholders, negotiating community interests well is key (Evans & Phelan, 2016). This is because the environmental justice and labour movements have different priorities, which can, however, intersect under the umbrella of just transition. To make this consultation and negotiation process inclusive and just, a Global South perspective, Indigenous knowledge, and lived experiences have to be accounted for (Pucheta et al., 2021; Sovacool, Turnheim, et al., 2021; Stevis, 2021). In this way, injustices exacerbated and caused by a low carbon transition can be overcome (Lo, 2021; Schaefer et al., 2021; Sovacool et al., 2019; Winkler, 2020).

By operating in a post-capitalist society, a just transition to a net zero carbon economy could transform society and the economy and ameliorate the current environmental challenges (Kalt, 2021; Kenfack, 2019). A just transition, in other words, would enable society to move away from the structural injustices that capitalism creates and exacerbates. One factor that can contribute to a transformative just transition is not pursuing infinite economic growth, as it contributes to issues around climate change, social inequalities, and representative democracy (Barry, 2021). Instead, the more sustainable option of de-growth could be pursued, which focuses on downscaling production and consumption by making more out of the resources already in circulation (Hobson & Lynch, 2016). The understanding of value differs for de-growth in that private economic profit is not a key driver, instead promoting equity and wellbeing (Hobson & Lynch, 2016). Along with this, closing the green finance gap that exists between the need for investment in low carbon technologies and available funds could support a just transition through lower costs of power infrastructure, storage, and imports; lower unemployment; and increased gross domestic product (GDP) (Hafner et al., 2021). Some scholars emphasise the importance of policies to assist a just transition, alongside climate policies, to promote sustainable development, decent work, and green jobs (Galgóczi, 2020; Green & Gambhir, 2020; Healy & Barry, 2017; International Labour Organization, 2015; Krawchenko & Gordon, 2021; Newell & Mulvaney, 2013; Turner et al., 2020). These policies can be adapted to the different socioeconomic dynamics of different regions to ensure that the transition to a net zero carbon economy is equitable and just (McDougall, 2021; Moodie et al., 2021; While & Eadson, 2021). It is equally important that the decent work and green jobs promoted by a just transition prioritise personal wellbeing and social inclusion (Just Transition Centre, 2017; Masterman-Smith, 2010). This will ensure that the environment, society, and the economy will all benefit from a just transition to a net zero carbon economy.

Much of the current scholarship on a just transition to a net zero carbon economy is focused on the transition away from fossil fuels in the energy industry. This is because the energy industry will potentially have one of the greatest shifts in employment over the next thirty years, moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy production (Zhang et al., 2022). As a result of this shift to renewable energy, there is a significant risk of inequalities and injustices being created in communities that economically rely on the production of fossil fuels and those that produce new raw materials necessary for an energy transition (Newell & Mulvaney, 2013; Olson-Hazboun, 2018; Svobodova et al., 2021). By integrating social justice as a core component of the energy industry’s transition to a net zero carbon economy, a just transition will address both climate change and sustainable development (Huang & Liu, 2021; Kolde & Wagner, 2022; Muttitt & Kartha, 2020; Sovacool, Hess, et al., 2021; Svobodova et al., 2021; Zhang et al., 2022). To support this, there is a need for key actors, such as the European Union, to use their influence to balance inequitable power dynamics (Bonciu, 2021) and for a unified “counter-power” amongst less powerful stakeholders, generating solidarity and confronting inequalities (Cock, 2019).

Due to the positive relationship between energy consumption and economic development, there is a need for significant investments in renewable energy, particularly in developing countries (Louche et al., 2019; Nalule, 2019; Sareen & Kale, 2018). By ensuring that there is an equitable distribution of green investments across different regions, a just transition to a net zero carbon energy system will be promoted. Along with this, it is essential that the extraction of critical minerals that are required to develop renewable energy production do not cause social or environmental injustices (Bainton et al., 2021; Heffron, 2020; Qurbani et al., 2021; Watari et al., 2021). Despite the greater risks of transitioning to renewable energy that lesser developed countries will experience, it is important that the transition away from fossil fuels, particularly coal, is not delayed (Kalt, 2021; Nikas et al., 2020; Olson-Hazboun, 2018; Roy & Schaffartzik, 2021; Sovacool et al., 2020). Through green investments that are supported by developed economies in the Global North, developing countries in the Global South can potentially experience an equitable and just transition.

References

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