‘The next critical conversation': chair of Just Transition Commission says it's essential climate action is fair to all
The transition to a way of living, working and travelling that doesn't produce the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate breakdown asks more of some people than others.
It is inherently, if unintentionally, unjust. And that's exactly what concerns the Just Transition Commission.
'We're very strong in Ireland on what we need to do in terms of climate action,' said commission chair Ali Sheridan.
'But how we're going to do it, who is going to be impacted, how are they going to be supported – that's the next critical conversation.'
The Commission is an independent advisory body established by the government last year with 11 members appointed for a three-year term beginning last October.
They come from a range of backgrounds, representing workers, farmers, business, academia, community organisations and children's rights.
Its forerunner was the one-man Just Transition Commissioner post, assigned to Kieran Mulvey in 2019 specifically to oversee the government's response to the loss of jobs in the Midlands when Bord na Móna announced it would be shutting down its industrial peat extraction operations as part of its 'brown to green' transformation.
But the concept of just transition originates with the international labour movement in the 1970s when employers in polluting industries shut up shop and left workers high and dry rather than bear the costs of new environmental regulations.
Regulations were a benefit to society at large but that was little comfort to unemployed workers who, trade unions argued, should be supported to build new livelihoods rather than be simply sacrificed for the greater good.
Around a decade ago, just transition became more closely associated with fossil fuel industries when countries such as Spain and Germany shut down coal mines to focus on developing renewable energy.
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And then the term entered public conversation in Ireland with the winding down of the peat industry.
Now it is recognised that it has much wider implications.
Whether it's determining which communities get flood protection first, what counties must host the most wind turbines, whose homes should be retrofitted for energy efficiency or where a new public transport service should be developed, Ms Sheridan says the principles of just transition must be central to decision-making.
Government policy supports this view. The Programme for Government states that the Coalition will: 'Support the Just Transition Commission's work to listen to communities, address their concerns and ensure they benefit from the green transition.'
The national Climate Action Plan has many references to just transition and its importance in implementing climate action measures.
Legislation underpins this. The Climate Act states that the Government 'shall have regard to the requirement for a just transition to a climate-neutral economy which endeavours, in so far as is practicable, to maximise employment opportunities, and support persons and communities that may be negatively affected by the transition'.
But Ms Sheridan has concerns around the strength of that wording.
'The current version being used in the Act and being used by Government is potentially very limited and very reactive in nature,' she said.
'Yes, it may soften the negative impacts of just transition, but it runs the risk of missing the much bigger opportunity we have to actually make just transition central to all our climate action going forward and all the co-benefits it can bring.'
In its first report, published today, the Commission stresses the need for a clearer definition and vision for what just transition means in an Irish context.
In meeting communities to prepare the report, the members found enthusiasm for the idea but also 'some level of scepticism and distrust' around it.
'If I was to ask you who is the most vulnerable to the climate transition, what sector, what type of person, what place, I don't think the answers to that are clear enough right now,' Ms Sheridan said.
To that end, the commission has begun 'deep dives' into various sectors – agriculture, transport and energy to start with – and will begin publishing their findings later this year.
Vulnerabilities can be wide-ranging, from the physical impacts of climate change on land and property to the financial burdens of trying to go green.
'We are going to be asking a huge amount of society in the very near coming years,' Ms Sheridan said.
'Every sector, every place, every person is going to be touched by this transition.
'We're only going to build the acceptance and appetite for what's to come if we put people and communities and places at the centre.
'So just transition is not a 'nice to have' – it's a critical part of delivering climate action.'
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