CERIC Just Transition Event in May
On 13 May CERIC with the School of Politics and International Studies hosted a workshop that brought together academics, and union representatives from Germany, South Africa and the UK. The event addressed workers’ experiences of transitions to tackle the climate crisis and was an opportunity to share insights from the different countries and lessons learned. As South Africa is also in the early stages of its energy transition, the workshop was also an important chance to build networks of solidarity with fellow trade unions.
The event was primarily funded by the University of Leeds International Strategic Fund with contributions from CERIC and POLIS. It was co-organised by Alex Beresford, Ruth Bookbinder, Jo Cutter, and Vera Trappmann. The University's Associate Director of Global Research Partnerships, Louise Heery, opened the event and highlighted the importance of the social sciences in helping to ensure that transitions are just. Vera Trappmann then provided an overview of the 14-country Hans Böckler Foundation funded project into trade unions responses to the climate crisis, which was the basis for the workshop. The first session focused on summaries of the academic findings from some of the case studies, followed by reflections from union representatives with their key take aways. The second session considered ways forward and included presentations from Sam Perry, the TUC’s Green Bargaining lead, and Sarah Mewes from NELA, an organisation that runs educational programmes for trade union members in Germany. During the lunch break we screened a clip from the short film ‘Voices from the Transition’, which is based on field research in Chile and South Africa.
Although the countries are all at different stages of transitions, which have also incorporated varying degrees of justice, there were several common strands. Firstly, the need to ensure procedural justices and include all stakeholders in plans for a post-transition economy. The German case study in particular showcases the value of thorough multiparty consultation and participation in planning for a post-coal future. Felix Fleckenstein from the German Confederation of Trade Unions emphasised the need for workers to be “actors not objects” in transitions to protect workers and their communities’ interests. Reflections from delegates from South Africa and the UK on the devastating impacts on mining or industrial towns when workers are “objects” underlined the importance of this point.
A second point of consensus was concern over privatisation in the energy sector. Representatives from all countries noted the impact that privatisation, such as in extending the grid, could have on the affordability of electricity while making it harder for governments to manage these developments. Moreover, securing a just transition will require substantial investment – in Germany the Coal Commission received €70 billion to create new economic structures – and there was a general sense that the private sector is not a reliable source for this funding. Similarly, delegates drew attention to the risk of a “cliff edge” transition if jobs are not created in time in critical sectors, which they felt was more likely to occur if the government was not an active stakeholder.
Concerns about privatisation are also related to a sense that countries need to mitigate against excessive dependence on external countries for critical technologies. For instance, representatives from the UK and South Africa argued that it was important to develop national manufacturing capacity for renewable energy technologies, both as a new source of industrial development but also to preserve a degree of energy sovereignty.
The workshop served as a jumping off point for future engagements between the delegates, with plans for future meetings in Germany and South Africa. It was also the first event for our South African delegates which included internal workshops and a panel at Chatham House in London.