What is it?

In climate justice, “Just Transition” has many definitions (like climate justice itself!). But fundamentally, it refers to the idea that we should provide for those displaced by the economic and social changes necessitated by the climate crisis.

Addressing the climate crisis will likely require a massive remaking of our economies and societies—for example, from being powered by fossil fuels to being powered by carbon-neutral technologies. In its very narrowest sense, “Just Transition” means providing for the fossil-fuel workers who will be displaced by this transition. For instance, coal miners who will lose jobs as a result of ending coal extraction could be retrained for renewable energy jobs (e.g., solar panel installation) or otherwise provided for economically. But “Just Transition” can also refer to policies and principles that are much more ambitious and far-reaching (see below).

Just Transition advocates seek to undo the notion that there is a trade-off between environmental protections and employment protections—to refute the idea that action on climate change requires job loss.

Several key components of Just Transition typically include:

Employment—providing jobs for workers, preferably at wages at least equivalent to their wages from fossil-fuel-economy jobs.
Social dialogue—giving workers a voice in discussions with employers and government, a “seat at the table”
Social protection—making sure that workers have benefits and protections such as health care and income security

Different Just Transition advocates may broaden the concept “Just Transition” in different ways. Some examples:

Who should be provided for—blue-collar fossil fuel workers? Or also families and communities around fossil fuel workers? People of color and Indigenous peoples (who may or may not overlap with the previous groups)? Or all workers and communities who may need help (“leave no one behind”)? What about low-income consumers, who in the absence of Just Transition, might be disadvantaged by carbon taxes, compulsory upgrades to electric vehicles, compulsory retrofitting of homes for energy efficiency, etc.?
How should people be provided for—simply job retraining? Direct payments? Should we also make sure that workers have good, secure jobs, with benefits? Should we make sure that workers have rights and power?
How big of a philosophical shift—are we simply easing a transition to a new technological base for our economy? Or are we changing the whole nature of our economy—from extraction to regeneration, from capitalism to something else? Are we using this opportunity of massive societal shift to address basic inequities? To change the fundamental way that we relate to labor? To change our political and governmental structures? Is labor only one of many “just transitions”?
How intersectional—is this just about workers, or is this also about racial justice? Gender equity? Economic inequity? Indigenous rights? Disability justice?

The Just Transition Research Centre has an extensive analysis on different approaches to Just Transition, from the most conservative to most transformative.