How Do We Manage a Just Transition? A Comparative Review of National and Regional Just Transition Initiatives

Abstract

The concept of a ‘just transition’ encompasses political and policy imperatives to minimize the harmful impacts of industrial and economic transitions on workers, communities, and society more generally, and to maximize their potential benefits. This imperative has gained heightened importance as governments commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A wide range of policies, strategies and initiatives have been adopted by national and regional governments to facilitate and help manage a just transition. It is a concept that is increasingly being put into practice. This scoping study identifies and compares strategies, policies, and practices that are presently being implemented in order to manage a just transition across 25 countries and 74 regions alongside European Union-level policies. This work develops a typology of policy instruments to manage just transitions and identifies implementation gaps and leading practices.

Just Transitions for Oil and Gas Regions and the Role of Regional Development Policies

“…The geography of study is territorial level 3 (TL3), which are subregions below the level of a region, state, or province across OECD countries. For a full description of this methodology including the case countries and regions, see Krawchenko and Gordon (2021) [9].…”

“…Distributional justice is concerned with how different groups benefit or experience impacts from the changes required; recognitional justice identifies interest groups and rights holders who may be implicated; and procedural justice is concerned with elements of governance, i.e., who is included and how [15]. The literature reveals three main approaches to just transitions: jobs-focused, environment-focused, and societyfocused [16]. Each approach has implications for where and to whom governments have focused their policy support and investments.…”

“…Coal transitions have often been a key comparator industry. However, these transitions have generally not been proactively managed, have taken place over a number of years, and have entailed a proportionally smaller share of total employment than that of oil and gas sector workers [9].…”

“…Some support is funded through demand-led government services such as the tertiary education system, which are funded through the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), and active labour market programmes, funded through the Ministry of Social Development. Employee-oriented support is among the most common focus of just transition policies in advanced economies [9]. However, in the Taranaki region, there have not been any substantial employment losses in the sector to date.…”

The Energy of Freedom? Solar energy, modern slavery and the Just Transition

“…69 Steadily, the frame has widened to include a broader range of negative impacts occasioned by the transition, and the need to transition away from unsustainable extractive business models in the energy sector. 70 Since the notion found its way into the negotiating text for the Copenhagen Summit in 2009 and later the preamble to the 2015 Paris Agreement, 'Just Transition' debates have focused on the need for planning for industrial transitions. Sometimes these plans are local and place based.…”