What is the ‘Just Energy Transition,’ what does it mean to changes in the workplace and how can Unions help to make this transition fair for workers in all affected industries?
Since the Kyoto summit of 2012 the USA’s opportunities for global leadership to try to prevent irreversible climate collapse have almost entirely disintegrated on the basis that ‘obligating’ nations to take action for failing to meet their quotas would not lead to action by nations who heavily rely on fossil fuels for export income.
Instead, the Paris Agreement of 2015 was agreed on the basis that each state would estimate what its ‘voluntary contributions’ to reducing carbon emissions would aim to reach in the future. But without there being any form of legal sanction if they failed to keep to those targets, the response has been minimal and temperatures and CO2 emissions have continued at a rate described in a landmark advisory opinion last week by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) president as, “an urgent existential threat.”[1] The result of this is that the Paris Agreement has all but failed to produce any change to carbon emissions whatsoever with many states and particularly petrochemical companies now planning to seek drilling rights to extract even more fossil fuels (many undersea).
This now stands in stark contrast to the seeming complacency just ten years ago, “Taking into account the imperatives of a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs in accordance with nationally defined development priorities, Acknowledging that climate change is a common concern of humankind, Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity” [2].
I don’t believe that it would constitute a gross overreaction to say that the above acknowledgments have been all but ignored over the past decade, with numerous acts of genocide and war crimes playing out live on our television sets every night, whilst the governments of the world are seemingly powerless to stop the relentless heating of the planet in any way.
The very concept of a ‘Just Transition’ has its roots in 1980s by the US and European trade union movements in response to new regulations to prevent air and water pollution, which resulted in the closure of offending industries[3]. The North American trade union movements of the 1970’s and has specifically been attributed to, ‘the US labour and environmental activist, Tony Mazzocchi.’[4]. It is perhaps then ironic that since then the principle has been largely co-opted into the environmental justice movement to attain sustainability, ‘As Williams and Doyon argue, “we cannot achieve a sustainability transition without justice, indeed that an unjust transition is not sustainable.”[5]
As with all political issues, interpretation of the ‘Just Energy Transition’ have varied widely and there is no single, agreed definition. Therefore many countries may believe that they are well along the road to transitioning away from fossil fuels whilst in reality, they are frequently simply adding to the heat being produced by fossil fuels. In almost all cases targets set by nations committed to the ‘principles’ of the Paris Agreement 2015 are a now almost impossibly behind schedule to hit in time for the all important 2030 target year. The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) Report for 2024 has confirmed that the year was, “(1.46 degrees Celsius) above the pre-industrial average.”[6]. In response President Trump has threatened to halt satellite climate data monitoring by both NOAA & NASA. Given that the President believes that climate change is a hoax, this would seem to be a strange decision to take indeed.[7]
The definition of a ‘just energy transition,’ like much of the terminology of global environmental action has evolved over the years. What is ‘just’ to the energy rich north may be far from fair to the mineral rich south on which the north is dependant if it attempts to shift from its current fossil fuel use to zero carbon emitting equivalents. This is further complicated when individual groups in the north cannot even agree on what is ‘fair and just’ for themselves, when asked, a transport worker in the UK stated, “I don’t think we’ve ever sat and thought about our definition of fairness. It’s not something that we’ve ever really considered.”[8]
Where does this leave workers across the globe in the face of what would appear to be international impotence in the face of the impending catastrophe referred to earlier by the ICJ. It is essential for workers to be organised and prepared to face the continued onslaught on their rights if they have even a hope of being involved anything resembling a ‘Just Transition.’ Workers previously skilled in the fossil fuel industries must be re-skilled proportionately and their skills set reflected by their remunerative package. The role of trade unions in this process is essential, negotiating terms and conditions for industries currently in their infancy and those which may see fruition in the next few decades such as nuclear fusion.
As early as 2011, the ITUC (The International Trade Union Confederation) recognised the inherent dangers in a transition that fails to be just for workers, “Leadership by the labour movement is needed for transforming the system. Unless we fight for making the political economy of the ‘just transition’ this transformation work for the people, ensuring a Just Transition towards a truly sustainable model, we will only see superficial changes towards more inequality and environmental degradation.”[9]
The TUC released its report on the just transition in 2019 with the guiding principle being, “The trade union movement will support the fight against climate change to help protect the planet for our children and grandchildren. And we’ll stand up for those workers whose jobs are at risk if we don’t take action to make the transition to a greener economy a just one.” [10]
The document calls, quite rightly for a coherent and structured government policy for managing the transition and even calls for a Commission to include all stakeholders including trade unions to agree a common strategic approach to implementing policies which are robust enough to withstand the withering (though baseless) counter arguments of PR Companies representing the fossil industry. It is worth noting here, that contrary to beliefs that climate change is not real, not a single peer reviewed academic publication has historically denied the role of humans in increasing global temperatures though there are differences within the research over the severity of that role and the seriousness of the times we live in. It is also important to note that Carbon Tracker, an organisation which tracks investment opportunities in the fossil fuel industry have repeatedly highlighted a marked shift away from investment in renewable energy and in its place, grand plans to seek fossil fuels from the globe’s seabeds rich in these destructive materials.
Ultimately, workers need to realise the power they actually possess when organised. Despite the meagre efforts made so far under the guise of ‘a just transition,’ both governments & corporations still (as we speak) rely on workers to actually build, operate repair and manage the energy and economic systems of the future. An organised and flexible workforce, prepared for what seems will most likely become non-linear chaotic severe climactic events (which are likely), as ultimately, if such an organised workforce operates efficiently, the whims of the most polluting and destructive corporations must pay attention, even when the governments of the world have repeatedly proven powerless to stop them. Ultimately a suitably organised and inter-linked trade union movement can potentially wield huge influence over the decisions of state who still cling to the contradiction of infinite growth on a finite planet. Fundamentally, the suggestions made in the TUC Report of 2019 identify both the importance of involving trade unions in the ‘transition’ and the vital, contributory role they can play in ensuring that the changes are fair, equitable and just.[11]
Unfortunately, the document is now 6 years old and whilst we essentially agree with the role that trade unions must play in the ‘transition,’ there is has been absolutely no reduction or even slowing down of the release of green house gases (GHG’s) since the Report was issued. All of the issues highlighted in the report have largely been ignored and unions input since 2019 has been seriously marginalised, particularly at COP23 in Dubai in 2023, where petro-states were found to be negotiating new fossil fuel deals and union inputs were heavily sidelined to the point of being ignored entirely.
Employees United Union understands the role that trade unions must play in the future and is already working hard to support its members and ensure that it sinks the deepest roots to ensure its survival in these most chaotic and dangerous times.
In future blog’s we will look more closely at the ‘Just Energy Transition’ as it has currently been invoked, the differences of interpretation and what that means for the UK trade union movement. We will also look into serious, evidential accusations that the ‘Just Energy Transition’ as it is currently being perceived actually amounts to little more than ‘greenwashing’ and fundamentally relies on institutional and reckless race discrimination against the cash strapped global south in order to satisfy the endless greed and consumerism of the global north. Finally, later in September we will look at alternatives to the accepted interpretation and outline the fundamental role the trade union movement must play in actually making such a transition a viable reality.
[1] https://rb.gy/7g9klc, [2] https://rebrand.ly/837jh1b, [3] Peter Newall & Dustin Mulvaney, ‘The Political Economy of the Just Transition’ The Geographical Journal, 179 (2013), 132, [4] https://rebrand.ly/1yo582j, [5] Xinxin Wang, Kevin Lo - ‘Just Transition: A conceptual Overview’ Energy Research & Social Science 82 (2021), 2, [6] https://rebrand.ly/2wyens4, [7] https://rebrand.ly/ixng90q, [8] Vanessa Ternes, greg Marsden, Gilliam Harrison, ‘A Just Transition or just a transition? The Understanding in planning for a decarbonised transport system’ Energy Research & Social Sciences, 113 (2024), 6 , [9] Peter Newall & Dustin Mulvaney, ‘The Political Economy of the Just Transition’ The Geographical Journal, 179 (2013), 133-4, [10] A Just Transition to a Greener fairer economy, A TUC Report, (2019) 3, [11] ibid.