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What is “Just Transition”?
[ch 11: pages 57-59]Just transition is about recognising and planning fairly and sustainably for the huge changes that climate change policies will have for our whole economy. In the past, significant periods of economic restructuring have often happened in a chaotic fashion, leaving ordinary people, families and communities to bear the brunt of the transition to new ways of producing wealth.
According to the TUC report, A Green & Fair Future, the idea of ‘Just Transition’ seeks to avoid this kind of injustice, so that this crucial transformation can progress with the speed and depth required. It’s a big idea that touches on many aspects of governments’ responses to the climate crisis so far. For the TUC, the three building blocks of Just Transition are:
• A place at the table: this means unions are directly involved in consultations with government, business and community organisations on the green economy.
• Green jobs: investment in decent jobs and new low carbon technologies for the future.
• Green skills: through strong government leadership to ensure that training providers, colleges and employers offer the right opportunities for new skills and adapting existing skills to the future economy.
TUSDAC
Much of the TUC’s work on behalf of the General Council on green jobs as the alternative to austerity is progressed through the Trades Unions Sustainable Development Advisory Committee. TUSDAC’s meetings with the government’s environment department, Defra, are co-chaired by the TUC and a Defra Minister. Recently, TUSDAC has made representations to government on retaining our forests in public ownership; future skills for a low carbon economy; and adapting our essential services, such as the fire and rescue service, to our changing climate.
TUSDAC is supported by a Working Group, which brings together expert union advice on skills, energy, transport, and climate change.
TUSDAC oversaw the TUC’s report on the impact of the Coalition’s cuts to public bodies: Public Bodies & Sustainable Development: www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-19643-f0.cfm
The TUC and its affiliates are actively involved in a wide range of campaigns for green and decent jobs, working with environmental, community and business organisations, for example:
• Building our low carbon industries, a series of joint initiatives with industry bodies and trade unions to secure a future for our energy intensive industries like steel and ceramics.
• Campaigning with RenewableUK for fair feed-in tariffs to support jobs and skills in the UK’s solar power and wind industries.
• As members of the End Fuel Poverty Alliance and the Energy Bill Revolution campaign committed to eradicating fuel poverty in England by 2016.
• Campaigning for new carbon capture technologies for power stations and heavy industry, through the TUC’s Clean Coal Task Group.
• Local green jobs and skills alliances, where the TUC, unionlearn and trade unions are working in various partnerships with community groups, training colleges, environmental campaigns and employers, including the Greener Jobs Alliance, the Green Apprenticeship Partnership, Campaign against climate change, the Green Deal Group and the Climate Alliance.
• Building a national green workplaces network.