Just transitions solutions and challenges in a neoliberal and carbon-intensive economy

While often forgotten, just transition’s origins reside with the union movement and their commitment to social justice and fairness. Unions articulated a new vision for managing environmental protection that moved beyond the pitfalls of the traditional ‘jobs vs the environment’ dichotomy, of which unions so often became victim, by acknowledging the climate crisis and the need to urgently address it in a way that does not unfairly burden or disadvantage workers and local communities. In this regard, just transition is ‘not just another transition’ (ILO, 2018: 1)