Just Transition
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A framework of principles and practices ensuring that workers and communities are not left behind in the transition to a low-carbon, environmentally sustainable economy. Originating in the 1970s when Tony Mazzocchi of the US Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW) proposed a 'Superfund for Workers' to compensate those displaced by environmental regulations, the concept gained international standing through the ILO's 2015 Guidelines for a Just Transition and its inclusion in the preamble of the Paris Agreement. It links climate justice with social justice, centering job guarantees, retraining, social protection, and democratic participation in transition governance.
In depth
Origins and Development
The concept of Just Transition originated in the US labor movement of the 1970s. Tony Mazzocchi, leader of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW), proposed a 'Superfund for Workers' (modeled on the US Superfund Act of 1980) to compensate and retrain workers displaced by environmental regulations. Mazzocchi argued that "workers should not have to pay for clean air and water with their jobs, their living standards or their future." The term 'Just Transition' was later adopted explicitly to avoid the negative connotations of 'Superfund.'
In the late 1990s, the Just Transition Alliance was formed through collaboration between OCAW and environmental justice communities of color, cementing the frame as a labor-environmental solidarity concept.
ILO Guidelines and International Institutionalization
The 2013 International Labour Conference adopted conclusions on sustainable development, decent work, and green jobs. In 2015, the ILO Tripartite Meeting of Experts adopted the 'Guidelines for a Just Transition towards Environmentally Sustainable Economies and Societies for All,' providing a policy framework across nine areas including social dialogue, quality job creation, social protection, and skills development.
The 2015 Paris Agreement acknowledged 'the imperatives of a just transition' in its preamble, and COP24 in 2018 adopted the Solidarity and Just Transition Silesia Declaration. As of 2022, 38% of countries' Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) referenced just transition.
In Korea
Just Transition emerged in South Korea in the 2020s as a convergence point between climate and labor movements. Engagement remains fragmented. In 2024, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' electricity union filed a lawsuit to invalidate the government's Carbon Neutrality Basic Plan, arguing that the exclusion of workers from the Carbon Neutrality Commission rendered the process illegal. The Korean Metal Workers' Union (under the KCTU) has refused to participate in the Commission entirely. Internal debates within Korean labor question whether existing approaches, centered on regular workers' job protection, can be expanded into a 'Just Transition for All' that includes subcontract, non-regular, and community stakeholders.
The 2026 May Day report identifies Just Transition as a convergence axis between climate and labor movements, highlighting the urgency of combining the structural transformation of carbon-intensive industries (steel, petrochemicals) with worker protection measures.
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) Wikipedia article on Just Transition: origin in 1980s US labor movement (Tony Mazzocchi/OCAW), 2015 Paris Agreement preamble, ILO Guidelines, 38% of NDCs reference just transition as of 2022.
- ilo.org ILO Guidelines for a Just Transition (2015): adopted by tripartite meeting of experts following 2013 International Labour Conference resolution on sustainable development, decent work and green jobs.
- smea.uw.edu University of Washington School of Marine and Environmental Affairs: detailed history from Mazzocchi's Superfund for Workers proposal through Just Transition Alliance formation to IPCC recognition.
- klsi.org Korea Labour and Society Institute (KLSI): Park Tae-ju on Korean labor unions' engagement with Just Transition, three goals (climate action, job protection/creation, inequality reduction), Korean unions' fragmented response and exclusion from Carbon Neutrality Commission.