Just Transition
How can London achieve an equitable transition to a net-zero, resilient city? How can we fairly share the benefits of a greener, healthier city? How can we convene people and organisations in dialogue to build trust and co-create solutions on climate action?
The London Sustainable Development Commission (LSDC) is exploring these questions through our work on the 'just transition'.
Background
The phrase ‘just transition’ often refers simply to re-skilling workers for zero-carbon jobs. But the LSDC is looking more holistically at what the ‘just transition’ will mean for Londoners.
The Mayor’s ambitious goal for London to be net zero carbon by 2030 isn’t just about cutting CO2 emissions: it’s about creating a better city for Londoners. It means making homes efficient and warm, tackling fuel poverty and the cost-of-living crisis. It means making neighbourhoods more liveable and walkable, with vibrant local high streets and less traffic pollution, reducing health inequalities. It means good, green jobs with decent wages and conditions.
But in order to achieve a fair transition to the zero-carbon economy, we need to understand how communities will be impacted differently, and support the most vulnerable. We need to equip our leaders within local government, the public and private sectors, and communities, to make good decisions and plans, informed by ‘just transition’ principles and community input.
Just Transition in retrofits
The LSDC is researching how Londoners’ perceptions of home retrofits differ depending on age, ethnicity, sex and disability.
Based on this research, we will produce a toolkit to enable retrofit delivery bodies to make future retrofit projects more inclusive and responsive to community needs. In turn, this will help tackle fuel poverty and enable a ‘just transition’ to a net-zero, climate-resilient city. The research uses a ‘participatory action research’ methodology, which centres on households’ lived experiences to yield deeper, more nuanced insights.
We are working in partnership with the Institute for Community Studies, part of the Young Foundation. Our interim findings will be published autumn 2024 with the final evidence report and a toolkit due to be published in spring 2025.
LSDC report: 'London's Just Transition'
In June 2023, the LSDC published a report setting out how London’s political leaders can deliver a just transition for the city. The report recommends the following action, building on the significant work already underway:
- Set out a vision of the actions needed for a greener, fairer city, which Londoners can get behind.
- Build public trust by listening to communities when planning environmental actions that affects them.
- Design environmental policies that share the benefits and costs fairly.
- Build governance that coordinates action across the city, so London’s organisations all pull in the same direction.
- Give more support to community groups, empowering them to take local action.
- Devolve funding and powers from central government to London, to accelerate local action tailored to our communities.
- Collaborate with other cities and regions to share best practice.
London's Just Transition Report 2023
The report was launched at an event on 26 Jun 2023 hosted at the Royal Society of the Arts.
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The panellists were:
- Andy Haldane (chair), CEO of the RSA
- Malini Mehra, chair of the LSDC’s Just Transition work programme
- Richard Watts, Mayor of London’s Deputy Chief of Staff, the Mayor of London's Office
- Cllr Claire Holland, Executive member for Communities, London Councils, and Leader of Lambeth Council
- Hannah Martin, Co Executive Director, Green New Deal Rising.
London's 'Just Transition' Conference
The LSDC held a conference on 25 January 2022 to explore some of the questions above to understand current trends gaps and opportunities.
Read the summary report below, or watch a video of the conference itself and find out more about the different areas that were discussed at the conference, including
- Jobs and skills
- Communities
- Governance
The LSDC is working to ensure London's transition to net-zero is equitable.
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