"The accelerating ecological degradations, on the one hand, and the persisting poverty and social inequalities, on the other, have so far been treated as separate issues, debated in different forums and placed under the responsibility of different actors. As a result, the ecological transition faces resistance because of fears about its social consequences: It is not seen as an opportunity for improving wellbeing and social justice, but rather as a threat to low-income families, to workers in environmentally damaging sectors and/or to farmers. This can and must change. Designing policies that pursue environmental and social policy goals in an integrated way and ensuring effective participation of social partners, civil society and citizens – including the most vulnerable ones – in decision-making, implementation and evaluation should ensure that the ecological transition will be equitable, more supported and better informed. As a result, it can be more effective and just. If properly conceived, such ‘just transition' can in fact become a means for reducing inequalities, while ensuring the satisfaction of social and environmental rights for all within safe Earth system boundaries. It is this conviction that animates this report. Its main claim is that, in order to address the twin social and ecological challenges Belgium faces, the social state needs to evolve into a ‘social-ecological state', namely a state designed to address social and ecological challenges in an integrated way, incorporating their interdependences both in policy design and in governance. Conceived as such, just transition belongs at the heart of the societal pursuit of progress and development.
The present report reflects a year of transdisciplinary dialogue and analyses on just transition in Belgium within the High Committee for a just transition. At the request of the Belgian Federal Minister for the Climate, the Environment, the Sustainable Development and the Green Deal, this academic group examined the question “How to organise and institutionalise the just transition in Belgium?”. The result is a set of policy levers reflecting the wideness of the array of tools and instruments to be activated by our governments to build a social-ecological state. More specifically, this report explores the what, why and how of the just transition in Belgium
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