Analysis: with COP28 focusing on just transition climate plans, Ireland has much to learn from other countries' experiences in this regard
By Vilja Johansson, University of Eastern Finland and Diarmuid Torney, DCU
This week, representatives of the world's governments will gather in Dubai for this year’s UN climate change summit. A new item on the agenda for COP28 is the establishment of a work programme on just transition. Here in Ireland, the Government is planning for the establishment of a Just Transition Commission. As it does so, it would do well to learn from other countries’ experiences of setting up just transition planning and policy processes.
What is just transition?
Just transition seeks to ensure that the rapid phase out of climate-polluting activities is just both in terms of process and outcome. The move away from peat extraction in midland counties has been a prominent focus of just transition initiatives in Ireland. As we move increasingly from the era of aspiration and targets to a focus on the nuts and bolts of climate policy implementation, the importance of just transition will only grow.
This new phase in climate policy is increasingly bringing to the fore concerns around how different groups in society are affected by climate action measures. Making sure that the transformation of our economy and society is just and inclusive is crucial to maintaining societal support for the disruptive measures that will be needed to achieve national, EU and international climate goals.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, Pippa Hackett, Green Party Senator and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Land Use and Biodiversity, on the EU Just Transition Fund
A growing number of countries are paying increasing attention to the idea of a just transition through political and legal commitments. In Ireland, the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act of 2021 explicitly recognises the 'requirement for a just transition to a climate neutral economy’.
In addition, the current Programme for Government committed to establish a Just Transition Commission on a statutory basis. A Just Transition Taskforce has been convened to develop proposals for the establishment of a Just Transition Commission, tasked with reporting by early 2024.
The international experience
The approaches adopted by other countries illustrate four key elements for effective governance of just transitions.
First, a strong planning framework is important. International experience shows that this can be done in different ways. Scotland, for example, has integrated just transition planning into the existing climate action planning process. Spain, by contrast, has established a separate planning framework for just transition measures, called a Just Transition Strategy.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime in 2020, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan on the Just Transition programme in the Midlands
Ireland has already taken some steps in this direction. The 2021 Climate Action Plan set out a just transition framework consisting of four principles to underpin both processes and implementation of all climate action policies and measures. However, further integration is needed of just transition considerations into both mitigation and adaptation policy at national and local level.
A second important element concerns how scientific and expert advice on just transition practices is incorporated into policymaking. Several jurisdictions have established independent institutions to conduct or commission studies on socioeconomic impacts of climate policies and to advise on best practice approaches to just transition.
Scotland, for instance, has established a Just Transition Commission to fulfil these tasks, and a Just Transition Commission is to be established in Northern Ireland under the 2022 Climate Change Act.
Third, broad public participation and active stakeholder engagement needs to be central to just transition policies, not least due to the place-based, politically complex and contested nature of just transition.
Without a core focus on fair and inclusive policymaking, Ireland's climate transition is likely to face ever increasing resistance
In both Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Just Transition Commissions are designed to facilitate stakeholder engagement by bringing together representatives from trade unions, civil society, business, youth groups, academia and key sectors of the economy, among others.
Scotland’s Just Transition Commission has also been tasked with engaging specifically with those who are expected to be most impacted by the transition, to help inform the content of, and processes for, just transition policies.
Finally, monitoring and accountability is crucial for effective governance of just transitions. In other jurisdictions, just transition commissions have been given a role in scrutinising the implementation of the government’s activities on just transition. This is a key element in ensuring that laudable aspirations set out in plans and commitments are actually implemented.
Next steps for Ireland
Drawing on these examples, a Just Transition Commission in Ireland could undertake several key tasks. In addition to providing advice to the government and facilitating stakeholder engagement, it could strengthen engagement with the public on climate and just transition policies. Furthermore, the Just Transition Commission could play a crucial role in monitoring and scrutinising implementation of government commitments.
In order for the planned Just Transition Commission to live up to its potential, it is important that its mandate and working practices be aligned and integrated with existing climate governance practices, including annual policy planning, reporting and review mechanisms under the 2021 Climate Act.
Without a core focus on fair and inclusive policymaking, Ireland’s climate transition is likely to face ever increasing resistance. Establishing a Just Transition Commission that draws on best international practice and placing it on a statutory footing will help to secure the continuation of its work over parliamentary periods. Doing so will give it a stronger ability to contribute to placing just transition at the centre of Ireland’s climate action policies over the medium term.
Vilja Johansson is a doctoral researcher at the Center for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law at the University of Eastern Finland. Dr. Diarmuid Torney is an associate professor in the School of Law and Government and co-director of the Centre for Climate and Society at DCU. He is an Irish Research Council awardee.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
