Setting an International Policy Agenda for Just Transition

Following the transformational pathways to limit global warming to 1.5°C requires economywide transitions, with the potential to disrupt the livelihoods of workers and communities centered on high-carbon economies while perpetuating social injustices.

As international climate policy moves toward a zero-emissions economy, political decision makers have an obligation to:

• Ensure the well-being of communities disproportionately affected by these changes.
• Work with governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders to provide safety nets for workers.
• Create decent green jobs.
• Include communities historically marginalized by the fossil fuel economy in conversations on transition plans.

The origins of just transition policies in grassroots social and labor movements further provide the spark for taking broader action to achieve a fair, just, and safe climate future.

This policy dialogue brief presents key discussion points and observations from a multidisciplinary roundtable on the subject, held in October 2017 at the Stanley Center’s 58th annual Strategy for Peace Conference.

This brief provides recommendations from experts for developing an international policy agenda on just transition. It is intended to help institutions of all kinds—civil society, the private sector, cities and states, governments, and intergovernmental organizations—address major social challenges associated with transformations to limit global warming to 1.5°C. It also presents opportunities for climate action to achieve social policy goals and vice versa.