Just Transitions and Labor

At the national and international level climate change is creating injustices as those who have contributed the least greenhouse gas emissions often face the greatest risks from the effects of climate change (IPCC, 2014; Roberts & Parks, 2007; Vanderheiden, 2008). Yet the inequalities in the transition to a more ecologically sustainable and less carbon-intensive economy have received less attention, particularly as governments, businesses, and environmental advocates promote carbon-reduction policies as a win-win for the environment and the economy. However, the benefits and costs of mitigating climate change and creating a more environmentally sustainable society will not will not necessarily lead to a more socially just society or what Agyeman et al. (2003) call ‘just sustainabilities’: “The need to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, whilst living within the limits of supporting ecosystems,” (p. 5). Indeed it could reproduce, deepen, and further reinforce existing social hierarchies and injustices (Littig, 2018; Snell, 2018; Snell & Fairbrother, 2013; Stevis, 2012). People and institutions in power will have privileged access to the benefits of creating a greener economy while those in marginalized positions will have less access to the benefits and face unequal risks. Expanding renewable energy could rely on the same exploitative and gendered labor practices and forms of Indigenous dispossession as fossil fuel energy.