Just transition concept: The state-of-play

The just transition (JT) concept is in vogue. Presently, an array of forces has adopted the JT concept, either as a goal or policy. Since its emergence within the trade union movement in the 1990s as a response to global warming, multilateral bodies, civil society organisations, and corporations, have endorsed just transition with intentions to use it as a guide in their actions and interventions to mitigate climate change. To comply with international treaties, national and subnational governments are also introducing hard and soft laws to facilitate what they regard as just transitions. In addition to above uses, the JT concept has moved into the academe and is utilised in diverse economic sectors such as energy, food and agriculture, healthcare, finance and tourism. After years of climate denialism, corporations and business associations have achieved what has been their goal since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, recognition as a key non-state actor in climate negotiations (Mousu, 2020). Viewed positively, the popularity of the JT concept reflects a "growing awareness of and concern about deepening inequalities between the world's rich and poor, and how the climate and environmental crises, and efforts to address them, are accentuating them" (Stevis, Morena and Krause, 2020, 4). Considering its spread, attempts are underway to operationalise the concept. To enhance its utility and simplify the expansive use of JT concept, Harrington (2022) makes a distinction between climate and non-climate transitions. Climate-related transitions require shifts away from large-scale greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation by sectors that are potential carbon sinks. Non-climate transitions involve changes required in sectors such healthcare, agriculture and food production. (...)