Dr. Jeanne Moore:

In a background paper supporting the council report, we note that a just transition approach is increasingly recognised but still not fully understood in practice. While there are different perspectives, we have approached just transition as something that seeks to ensure transitions are equitable and participative in both the process and outcome at national, regional and local levels. A just transition approach explicitly names principles, goals and values and facilitates societal engagement, while also seeking to ensure that the costs and benefits of the transition are equitably shared. That paper outlines that there is a growing consensus that such an approach has to be built into climate action to achieve both equitable solutions and public support. Achieving a transformation of the scale necessary in a relatively short period is a considerable political challenge, requiring policies that share both the burden and the benefits and opportunities. However, it is not yet clear which particular policies, regulatory and legal measures are most effective. Nevertheless, without action on a just transition, it is important to reflect on the alternative. We would have economic and technological progress, coupled with environmental protection and possibly restoration, but without social equity or consideration of rights and protections. The social and political challenges that approach would create could make the transition unachievable or delay its progress.

While the debate on values and principles remains a live one, practical approaches to achieving a just transition are where policy debates are now shifting, as is the case currently in Ireland. Aligning just transition policies with decarbonisation measures is necessary to ensure emissions are radically reduced in a way that is fair, inclusive and equitable. However, there is no blueprint or fixed set of rules to achieve this. Our work included international case study research as well as a review of key approaches to transition that have been applied regionally and nationally. While many of these approaches are place-based and process-oriented and focus on skills development, social protection and the labour market by targeting and supporting jobs in key sectors, others focus on a purposeful, participative and multifaceted approach to transition governance.

There are five key areas for this. The first is preparation. For a just transition, purposive and proactive planning and governance is required at national, regional and local levels involving the Government and regional and local or community-based actors, combined with Government support. The second area is process. We need a participative, social dialogue based process as part of public governance that considers the sharing of costs and benefits and champions principles of fairness, justice, equality and social inclusion. This can be a mechanism for fostering trust and adopting a problem-solving approach to transition. The third area is people and focusing on decent and good jobs, pay and conditions, training and appropriate social protection for those at risk. The fourth is place. Place-based regeneration of local communities and infrastructure has the potential to enable transition, with bottom-up local action and networks of practice to complement any overarching national just transition framework. The fifth and final area is outcomes. We need fair, inclusive and equitable outcomes in which no-one is left behind.

Scotland provides a valuable case study in that it has taken a national focus rather than the more common regional one to examine just transition opportunities and challenges. The interim report of the Scottish Just Transition Commission echoes the above points and outlines the need for the following: to plan ahead and develop clear transition plans; proactive and ongoing dialogue to help understand society’s expectations relating to the transition; and to bring equity to the heart of climate change policies, including addressing existing inequalities in work, housing, and transport. NESC's work points to the critical part a just transition plays in transition, but practices, policies and governance approaches are still unfolding and there are no off-the-shelf solutions. Combining a focus on both fair and inclusive processes and outcomes will be key to Ireland’s effective decarbonisation and societal transition.