"A shift to a lower carbon economy is not just necessary but increasingly inevitable. Although much more needs to be done to reduce the risk of significant climate change this century, new environmental regulation and the establishment of carbon markets will begin to change the shape of the UK economy over the next decade. Unfortunately, significant periods of economic restructuring in the past have often happened in a chaotic fashion leaving ordinary workers, their families and communities to bear the brunt of the transition to new ways of producing wealth. Indeed, many individuals and communities in the UK are still paying the price for the rapid shift away from industrial production over the last 30 years. Such injustice cannot become a feature of environmental transition. Not only would this be morally wrong and socially damaging but it would undermine the credibility of the transition itself and could slow or even halt this vital and urgent shift. For this reason, among others, we need a 'Just Transition' to a low carbon economy. Just Transition recognises that support for environmental policies are conditional on a fair distribution of the costs and benefits of those policies across the economy, and on the creation of opportunities for active engagement by those affected in determining the future wellbeing of themselves and their families."

Support: Digital