Documents

Le Conseil central de l’économie (CCE) et le Conseil national du travail (CNT) viennent d’approuver leurs contributions, sous forme d’avis, au Programme national de réforme 2020. Comme pour les années précédentes, les deux Conseils répondent ainsi à une demande que le gouvernement leur adresse au stade préparatoire du Programme national de réforme (PNR). Le PNR s’inscrit dans le cadre du processus de coordination des politiques socio-économiques des États membres de l’Union européenne, le «Semestre européen». Il aborde des matières principalement socio-économiques, ce qui justifie et rend indispensable une concertation avec les interlocuteurs sociaux.

The Government’s Climate Action Plan and Future Jobs Ireland 2019 included a request for NESC’s advice on how to manage the transition associated with climate change and digital automation. Specifically, how to minimise the impact on any vulnerable workers and sectors, and how to seize opportunities. Government policy is intended to lead the low-carbon transition, by incentivising the innovation, diffusion and adoption of primarily energy-related low-carbon technologies. The zero-carbon transition is a form of socio-economic transition, involving major changes over decadal timescales in buildings, energy and transport systems. The principle of a just transition means no groups are left behind. A key question for policy-makers then is ‘which sectors and workers are vulnerable in transitions?’. The problem of identifying the most vulnerable groups and sectors in the economy during a low-carbon or digital transition is complex. Quantitative models of the economy and energy system are often applied to determine appropriate responses to climate change in the energy sector, assess the impact of policy proposals on the economy and identify vulnerable groups during transitions. Several different theories and perspectives should be used to approach the problem. Such insights are crucial to a just transition, and international approaches and lessons for Ireland are explored here. This research paper was an input to, and should be read in conjunction with, Council Report no 149: Addressing Employment Vulnerability as Part of a Just Transition in Ireland.

Just transition is a new and emerging topic. It should be kept in mind that we are examining transitions in progress, and that there are no ready-made templates of successful, completed, transitions to a zero-carbon economy. There is a wealth of literature on internationally agreed foundational principles, but few examples of transitions in practice and no example of a region that has completed its transition to an entirely non-fossil-fuel-based system. Most country-level examples of transition also focus overtly on regional transitions away from coal-based employment. The Scottish Just Transition Commission appears to be the only current example of an economy-wide transition being put into practice. Momentum, however, is building in global support for such an ‘all economy’ approach, as evidenced by increasing international discourse on a ‘Green New Deal’. This lack of practical templates is an opportunity for Ireland to lead on an internationally regarded example of just transition in the Midlands. As other countries begin their transitions, Ireland can serve as an international example of a proactive, inclusive and place-based just transition to an economy that operates within environmental and social limits. An analysis of transitions away from fossil-fuel-based regional employment in Australia’s Latrobe Valley, Scotland’s Just Transition Commission and Germany’s Ruhr Valley and Lausitz/Lusatia finds that an inclusive, iterative, place-based, context-specific approach enabled by public investment provides the best outcomes, including the creation of low-carbon employment alternatives.