Situating Just Transition as a distinct legal concept

Calum Stewart, Iain MacNeil (Lead / Corresponding author), Giedre Jokubauskaite, Vera Pavlou, Rebecca Williams, Sufyan Droubi, Katarzyna Chałaczkiewicz-Ładna, Daria Shapovalova

Research output: Working paper/PreprintWorking paper

Abstract

Just Transition has attracted considerable attention as a policy objective in the EU, Scotland, Canada and beyond in recent years and has influenced policymakers and businesses in their respective approaches to net zero transition and sustainability more generally. However, it is unclear how the elements of Just Transition as a concept are linked with broader sustainability objectives and techniques that are often embedded in national and international legal instruments developed with expert scientific input, expressed through such initiatives as UN Sustainable Development Goals, EU Green Finance taxonomy, or carbon accounting and related net zero initiatives at the national level. Beyond general commitments to net zero, there is currently no clear sense in the national, regional and international policy spaces about how sustainability frameworks link to the concept of Just Transition and its planning frameworks. The problematic juxtaposition of Just Transition and sustainability can be considered from several perspectives. In this paper, we focus on the three normative dimensions of the concept of Just Transition: timeframes, equity, and the process of formulating transitional measures towards net-zero economy, and we also assess the need to strengthen the legal force of the concept, reflected in a cross-cutting dimension of legality. The concept of Just Transition, its meaning and policy relevance has been extensively discussed in the literature, in particular in law over the last few years. There is broad agreement that there is a need for the operationalisation of Just Transition and its governance across jurisdictions and political systems. To this end, scholars have examined the role of Just Transition in different areas of law and governance, such as human rights and climate law; as well as its institutional and political set-up across countries and regions. This paper aims to build on this emerging scholarship field and contribute to the debate in this area, by distinguishing Just Transition from sustainability more clearly, and by discussing how and to what extent the ideas of Just Transition that originated in the labour movements and evolved under the policy paradigm of sustainable development, have been carried over, adjusted, accommodated or reinvented in different legal sub-disciplines.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherSocial Science Research Network
Number of pages30
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Oct 2024

Keywords

  • just transition
  • law
  • climate change

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