Job creation and/or equality – Just Transition Initiative

What is "Just Transition"?

Commentary/Guidelines, Strategies and Recommendations

Aug 2021

COP26: The Perfect Opportunity for Latin America and the Caribbean to Champion a Just Transition to Net Zero

This commentary narrates the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic and extreme weather events on the Latin America and Caribbean region and highlights the urgent need for a just and equitable transition to net zero.

Geographic Scope
Sectors: Energy
Focus Areas: COVID-19; Economic diversification/restructuring > Infrastructure investment; Employment > Job creation and/or equality; Government intervention > Public finance, Regulation
Keywords: COP26; net-zero; energy efficiency
By: Leonardo Beltran
Publishing Organization: Center for Strategic and International Studies, Climate Investment Funds (CIF)
Academic/research institution or journal, Development finance institution
Summary: The disproportionate impacts of the pandemic and extreme weather events on the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region highlight the urgent need for a just and equitable transition to net zero in LAC. The region has a unique opportunity to step up at the upcoming COP26 by incorporating just transition priorities into two foundational energy initiatives. The Renewable Energy for Latin America and the Caribbean (RELAC) Initiative along with the implementation of the Observatory of Energy Management Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean, supported by sources of climate finance, have the potential to help deliver on the region’s energy and climate goals while also generating the new economic and employment opportunities needed for a new green economy that works for all.

Report/Guidelines, Strategies and Recommendations; Policy Tools or Evaluations

Nov 2018

Managing Coal Mine Closure: Achieving a just transition for all

This paper narrates the lessons and key considerations for planning and implementing a coal mine closure program, as derived from a review of global experiences and over two decades of World Bank assistance in coal mine closures to governments, enterprises, workers, and their communities.

Geographic Scope
Sectors: Mining
Focus Areas: Economic diversification/restructuring > Economic development plans; Employment > Job creation and/or equality, Skills, Social protections; Environment and/or pollution > Nature; Government intervention > Public finance, Regulation; Inequality and/or poverty > Gender inequality; Investment > Private finance; Social and/or cultural impacts > Non-financial loss
Keywords: mine mechanization; coal mine community characteristics; narrow economic base; political economy; labor mobility; mobility assistance; financial assurance mechanisms; Canada’s Industrial Adjustment Services; China’s urban Dibao social assistance program; transition funds
By: Michael C.Stanley, John E. Strongman, Rachel Bernice Perks, Helen Ba Thanh Nguyen, Wendy Cunningham, Achim Daniel Schmillen, Michael Stephen Mccormick
Publishing Organization: World Bank Group (WBG)
Development finance institution
Summary: The paper, using a review of global experiences and the World Bank’s decades of assisting governments to close mines, provides recommendations to policymakers on how to plan and implement a coal mine closure and mitigate the impacts on the people, communities, and livelihoods. The article highlights the typical characteristics of coal mining communities, which influence the potential for regional recovery after a closure. Many coal-dependent regions continue to lag behind other regions socially and economically, decades after a mine has been shut down. It further highlights how there are few if any instances of fully satisfactory economic rejuvenation outcomes in mono-industry coal mining towns, thereby emphasizing the acute need for early and careful planning to deal with the impacts of a closure.

The paper identifies nine lessons learned from managing coal mine closures, which are organized under three themes—namely policy and strategy development; people and communities; and land and environmental remediation. The policy and strategy development theme emphasizes that coal mine closures require clear policy direction, large budget outlays, and significant stakeholder consultations. The section on people and communities underlines the importance of a Just Transition for All to meet the needs of workers, families, and the wider community. The land and environmental remediation strategies advance the importance of financial planning for environmental remediation and land reclamation and summarizes a range of possible financial assurance mechanisms available. Some of these mechanisms are mobility assistance, employment services and small business support services, social assistance payments, and various financial assurance mechanisms for mine closures.

Report/Case Study; Guidelines, Strategies and Recommendations

Jun 2021

Assessing vulnerability from coal dependence and need for a just transition

This paper identifies the linkages that surround the Indian coal economy as well as the possible economic, societal, and cultural repercussions of a coal phaseout in the major coal mining states.

Geographic Scope
Sectors: Mining
Focus Areas: Employment > Job creation and/or equality; Environment and/or pollution > Nature; Government intervention > Public finance, Regulation; Inequality and/or poverty > Gender inequality; Investment > ESG and corporate engagement; Social and/or cultural impacts > Non-financial loss, Other
Keywords: Coal communities; tribal women; health insurance; income inequality; informal sector; CSR revenue; state revenue; community identity; livelihood alternatives; social capital of land; illegal mining; legislative gaps; energy democracy
By: Souvik Bhattacharjya, Ruchi Gupta, G. Mini, Saswata Chaudhury, Mani Juneja, Kartikey Sharma
Publishing Organization: The Energy and Resources Institure (TERI)
Academic/research institution or journal
Summary: This paper—the first of a two-part release from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)—lays out the socioeconomic and environmental contexts of the coal economy in India. The authors highlight the detrimental impacts that the phaseout is likely to have on: the livelihoods and social surplus across coal-dependent states; the coal royalties that make up a significant portion of the no-tax revenue for a state; the stoppage of social empowerment initiatives and infrastructural losses; along with the unintended losses of the financial and social structures functioning within the gray market of the coal mining industry.

The authors also draw out the disproportionate impact on women and the vulnerable within these communities expected from the phaseout. The authors contend that in a mixed economy like India, a just transition takes utmost precedence, because it not only aims to formalize the deeply informal coal sector, but also seeks to achieve the critical characteristics needed to fulfill the notion of an “energy democracy”. The paper also discusses how the existing regulatory framework cannot comprehensively handle the complex interlinkages that exist within the subsector of the informal mining segment, part of which is both licensed and illegal and part of which is artisanal in nature.

Report/Policy Tools or Evaluations

Jun 2021

Towards a Just Transition Finance Roadmap for India: Laying the foundations for practical action

The report identifies priority actions for the financial sector in India to address social risks arising from the economic transition, with the help of a just transition framework that assesses the exposure by sector and region.

Geographic Scope
Sectors: Energy; General; Industrial; Mining; Transportation
Focus Areas: Employment > Job creation and/or equality; Government intervention > Other, Public finance, Regulation; Investment > ESG and corporate engagement, Other, Private finance
Keywords: India Just Transition Finance Roadmap (JTFR) project; urbanization; digitalization; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); double materiality; credit rating; green bond regulations; ESG reporting; Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS); freight; cement; green bonds; green loans; Reserve Bank of India; fiscal policy; CSR
By: Suranjali Tandon, Annapurna Mitra, Nick Robins
Publishing Organization: CDC Investment Works
Academic/research institution or journal
Summary: This report, a product of the India Just Transition Finance Roadmap (JTFR) project, identifies some priority actions that financial institutions can take to support climate action that also delivers positive results in terms of livelihoods and sustainable development. It involves a review of existing practices, an assessment of exposure by sector and region, and the identification of some priority actions for the finance sector. The authors describe the just transition agenda as the “connective tissue” that binds climate goals with social outcomes.

The authors highlight how India simultaneously confronts the challenges of multiple economic transitions—urbanization, digitalization, and the shift to zero carbon. They identify the distributional impacts on Indian states in sectors that are expected to be the most impacted, including: coal mining, electricity generation, agriculture, manufacturing and industry, along with transportation. Using the four dimensions of social risk arising from the net zero transition—namely livelihoods, energy access, public finance, and human development, they find that Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Telangana, and Rajasthan will be the most affected by the zero-carbon transition.

The authors suggest that the framework shows a possible mapping of risks to investments, highlighting the role that financial sector players, regulators, and policymakers need to play in ensuring that a just transition is achieved. Furthermore, they highlight how the framework can be used to provide guidance for investors to understand company operations in vulnerable regions, and whether there are any investment strategies capable of mitigating the risks in these regions. It can also provide guidance for investors seeking to align capital allocations with the just transition framework. From their conversations with investors, the authors identify how the just transition is still at an early stage of development in India and needs definition and how it needs to be placed in a core sustainable developmental context. Furthermore, the conversations also reveal that policy action is a crucial catalyst for a just transition and that shareholder engagement on just transitions is increasing.

Brief/Guidelines, Strategies and Recommendations

May 2021

A Just Green Recovery from COVID-19

This paper highlights how the Covid-19 recovery window offers a rare opportunity for accelerating the green transition and examines recovery measures through the lens of a just transition.

Geographic Scope
Sectors: General
Focus Areas: COVID-19; Employment > Job creation and/or equality, Skills, Social protections; Government intervention > Other
Keywords: informal sector; just transition framework; covid recovery packages; health and unemployment insurance; pipeline projects; labor rights
By: Ben Cahill, Hugh Searight, Mary Margaret Allen, Rahul Madhusudanan
Publishing Organization: Climate Investment Funds (CIF), Center for Strategic and International Studies
Academic/research institution or journal, Development finance institution
Summary: This paper highlights how the Covid-19 recovery window offers a rare opportunity for transforming economies and accelerating the green transition. There is renewed openness to large-scale public investments, as governments seek to restore their economic health, boost long-term growth potential, and accelerate decarbonization. But the inequality, exposed by the Covid-19 crisis, also demonstrates the need for policies that can advance equity and justice.

The paper examines green recovery measures through the lens of a just transition. The authors use three key dimensions of a just transition—distributional impacts, social inclusion, and transformative intent—to assess green recovery interventions around the world. They highlight promising examples of just and green recovery measures in various countries and suggest policy insights, with principles and best practices for future action.

Academic paper/Guidelines, Strategies and Recommendations

Mar 2020

Solar has greater techno-economic resource suitability than wind for replacing coal mining jobs

The article uses spatial analysis to explore the potential of renewable energy jobs directly replacing local jobs lost in the coal sector, with a focus on four major coal-producing countries, namely China, India, Australia, and the United States.

Geographic Scope
Sectors: Energy; Mining
Focus Areas: Employment > Job creation and/or equality
Keywords: spatial analysis; techno-economic resource suitability analysis; GIS tools; solar jobs; wind jobs; coal miners
By: Sandeep Pai, Hisham Zerriffi, Jessica Jewell, Jaivik Pathak
Publishing Organization: Environmental Research Letters
Academic/research institution or journal
Summary: With a focus on China, India, the United States, and Australia, the article uses spatial analysis to identify the local solar and wind capacities required for each coal mining area to enable all coal miners to transition to solar/wind jobs. It also assesses the resource availability in these areas and the scale of the deployment of renewables needed to transition coal miners in areas suitable for solar/wind power. The article suggests that the potential to create local jobs is crucial to a just and effective transition. Unlike other professional workers who migrate to find new jobs when they are laid off, most coal miners become “inactive” when they lose their jobs because of their strong connections to their communities, age, or skills.

The article finds that, with the exception of the U.S., several gigawatts (GWs) of solar or wind capacity would be required for each coal mining area to transition all coal miners to solar/wind jobs. In all four countries, only a small percent of coal mining areas have suitable wind resources. Furthermore, these countries would have to scale up their current solar capacities significantly to be able to transition coal miners working in areas suitable for solar development. The report highlights the need for a localized understanding of labor impacts and shows how spatial methodology can be used to conduct similar assessments.

Report/Case Study; Policy Tools or Evaluations

Apr 2021

Workers and Communities in Transition: Report of the Just Transition Listening Project

The report synthesizes lessons from more than 100 listening sessions with labor and community groups to gather their perspectives on transitions as well as identifies how coalitions have come together and what pathways exist to a just future.

Geographic Scope
Sectors: Agriculture; Energy; General; Land-use; Mining
Focus Areas: Economic diversification/restructuring > Economic development plans, Industry and/or sector assistance or plans; Employment > Job creation and/or equality, Skills, Social protections; Environment and/or pollution > Human health; Government intervention > Public finance; Justice; Social and/or cultural impacts > Pride or cultural identity
Keywords: Just Transition Listening Project (JTLP); Transitional services; unjust transitions; social protection; employer-based health coverage; labor unions; collective bargaining; labor climate movement; Trade Adjustment Act; wage insurance; Washington Initiative 1631; Free Prior and Informed Consent; systemic racism; holistic transition; formal and informal education; “bargaining for the common good”; intergenerational mentorship; unionization; coalition building; facilitated dialogue; power inequities; Huntley Plant Closure Fund; Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant; Lordstown Transition Center; Redwood Employee Protection Program 1978; United Steelworkers
By: J. Mijin Cha, Vivian Price, Dimitris Stevis, Todd E. Vachon, Maria Brescia-Weiler
Publishing Organization: Labor Network for Sustainability
Labor organization, Non-profit organization/civil society organization
Summary: The findings of this report are derived from more than 100 in-depth listening sessions, including qualitative interviews and focused discussion groups with workers and community members from across the United States, which were conducted in 2020. The sessions, typically lasting an hour or more, involved workers from dozens of unionized and nonunionized industries; union leaders; members of frontline communities, including environmental justice communities, communities of color, and Indigenous communities; along with leaders from labor, environmental justice, climate justice, and other community organizations.

The aim of the sessions was to capture the voices of the workers and community members who had experienced, are currently experiencing, or anticipate experiencing some form of economic transition. The report suggests how past transitions, driven by market forces, corporate entities, and shortsighted public policies, often leave workers and communities largely behind, with little to no support. As such, community trauma has gone unrecognized and unaddressed for years.

The report identifies several themes that have emerged through these sessions, including a picture of what transition entails; how coalitions have come together, particularly those including labor and environment groups; how common vision and strategies for change are built; and what pathways to a just future exist. The report also highlights how individual and collective understandings of transitions range widely, according to type of work, class, gender, race, age, political ideology, previous experiences with environmentalists or the climate justice movement, and relationships with unions and the community. The report affords insightful reading and covers recommendations for policymakers; labor and movement organizations; and future research to fill in the identified gaps in knowledge, including understanding how sectoral transitions such as automation, digitalization, hybrid working, and health care could be done in an equitable manner.

Academic paper/Guidelines, Strategies and Recommendations

Oct 2018

Job Losses and Political Acceptability of Climate Policies: Why the ‘Job-Killing’ Argument is So Persistent and How to Overturn It

The author examines how real or perceived job losses from climate policies impact the willingness of workers to support these policies and identifies countervailing policies for decisionmakers to consider.

Geographic Scope
Sectors: General
Focus Areas: Economic diversification/restructuring > Industry and/or sector assistance or plans; Employment > Job creation and/or equality, Other
Keywords: climate policy; employment impacts; collective action problem; distributional impacts
By: Francesco Vona
Publishing Organization: Climate Policy
Academic/research institution or journal
Summary: This paper examines the political acceptability of climate policies and the prevalence of the argument that these policies kill jobs. The author argues that the aggregate losses from climate policies are significantly smaller than the benefits, in terms of health and labor market outcomes. Using case studies and empirical evidence, the author maintains that the “job-killing” argument is exacerbated by a collective action problem. Individuals who are modestly “winning” have little motivation to organize to support climate policies, while those most negatively impacted are more likely to rally against these policies. Concerns for jobs tend to outweigh climate change concerns, especially in the face of extreme negative economic shocks.

The author identifies several factors that amplify the prominence of the “job-killing” argument in affected communities. In addition to the financial crisis and the increase of international competition from China, the geographic concentration of affected workers in the same area is also a key factor. The author also highlights political factors, such as the weakening of unions, which has led to job quantity being prioritized over job quality.

The author suggests that decisionmakers should consider implementing countervailing policies that minimize the collective action problem resulting from negative economic shocks. The author uses examples to suggest some possible policies. These include using lump-sum transfers to affected workers and their communities as a means to increase the political acceptability of climate policies and revenues from a carbon tax being either used to finance workers’ retraining programs or recycled to reduce labor taxation.

Academic paper/Case Study; Guidelines, Strategies and Recommendations

Apr 2017

Just Transitions for the Miners: Labor Environmentalism in the Ruhr and Appalachian Coalfields

This report argues that labor environmentalism with a tradition of neo-corporatism is best positioned to support a just transition for affected workers with the help of examples from Ruhr (Germany) and Appalachia (United States).

Geographic Scope
Sectors: Mining
Focus Areas: Employment > Job creation and/or equality, Skills, Social protections; Environment and/or pollution > Human health
Keywords: Environmental reforms; unions; collective action; militancy; neo-corporatism; limited corporatism; Ruhr; Saarland; United Mine Workers of America
By: Judson Abraham
Publishing Organization: New Political Science
Academic/research institution or journal
Summary: This report challenges the idea that corporatism holds back environmental reforms and prevents workers from meaningfully participating in the decisionmaking process of a coal transition. Using two case studies, it highlights how militant unions with a tradition of neo-corporatism are best positioned to demand just transitions for their members. The author draws on existing literature to identify industrial militancy as: radical opposition to managerial prerogatives; deep advocacy for workers’ rights; a belief in industrial democracy and rank and file control over working conditions; along with support for collective action.

The author makes a case for industrial militancy by using the example of the German neo-corporatist approach of Ruhr and Saarland, a set of practices whereby governments, unions, and employers set the industrial policy together. Through this collaborative approach, the unions and workers’ militants achieved success on behalf of the coal miners. The author compares their success to the limited corporatism approach of the Appalachian coal unions and argues that the failure of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) to achieve a just transition is due to a lack of democracy within the governing system and the absence of the union members’ militancy. The author suggests that the environmental and social achievement of the German coal unions stems from militant activism. A similar approach could benefit the UMWA in achieving a just transition for its miners and their communities. The author concludes that balancing the concerns of labor with the environment requires some degree of worker control over the industrial policy and disruptive militant activism.

Report/Guidelines, Strategies and Recommendations; Policy Tools or Evaluations

Jul 2020

Jobs in a Net-Zero Emissions Future in Latin America and the Caribbean

The report details a decarbonization pathway for Latin America and the Caribbean region, identifies expected labor changes in various sectors, and focuses on equity considerations needed in each of the affected sectors.

Geographic Scope
Sectors: Agriculture; Energy; Industrial; Transportation
Focus Areas: COVID-19; Economic diversification/restructuring > Economic development plans, Industry and/or sector assistance or plans, Infrastructure investment; Employment > Job creation and/or equality, Skills, Social protections; Environment and/or pollution > Human health, Nature; Government intervention > Public finance; Inequality and/or poverty > Gender inequality; Investment > Competitiveness, Stranded assets
Keywords: decarbonization; input-output analysis; manufacturing; animal-based and plant based food systems; energy subsidy reform; social protection systems; Public employment programs; dietary shift; gender
By: Catherine Saget, Adrien Vogt-Schilb, Trang Luu
Publishing Organization: Inter-American Development Bank, International Labor Organization (ILO)
Inter-governmental/international organization, Labor organization
Summary: This report takes a detailed look at decarbonization pathways in the Latin America and the Caribbean region and highlights the potential to create 15 million net jobs in sectors, such as sustainable agriculture, forestry, solar and wind power, manufacturing, and construction during such a transition. The report suggests that, with adequately-designed measures to ensure that these jobs are decent and that those who lose out in the transition are protected and supported, recovery plans can create climate benefits, while also boosting growth, tackling inequality, and making progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

This report is based on an input-output analysis using a Global Trade Analysis Project Power database, a commonly employed tool for assessing the direct and indirect environmental and socioeconomic impacts of decarbonization efforts. The study finds that only three sectors would shrink in the transition to a decarbonized economy: 1) fossil-fuel based electricity, with about 80,000 jobs lost, or more than half of the current number; 2) fossil-fuel extraction, with almost a third of the current number, or 280,000 jobs eliminated; and 3) animal-based food production systems, with five percent of current jobs lost, representing half a million jobs.

The report provides a sectoral overview of the region and highlights how it is still struggling with gender and ethnic inequalities, skills gaps, insufficient social protection, and a large informal sector, despite more than a decade of steady progress. Prevailing decent work deficits, inequalities, and dependence on fossil fuel exports are expected to make Latin America and the Caribbean particularly susceptible to the social and economic impacts of climate change. The report also identifies the critical need for fairness in this transition and devotes a chapter to identifying the sector-wise equity and justice considerations needed to allow a successful transition in sectors that include energy, agriculture, forestry, waste management, tourism, transport, and construction.