Just Transition Commission - call for evidence

Overview

The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets)(Scotland) Act 2019 recently passed by the Scottish Parliament contains some of the most ambitious statutory emission reduction targets in the world. The transition required to meet these targets will be one of a number of long-term structural changes to the economy that will require a response and active management from the Scottish Government.

Against this backdrop of increasingly ambitious emission reduction targets, calls for fairness in climate change action and securing a ‘just transition’ have grown. Originating from the trade union movement, the concept of just transition refers to the need for Governments to take action to reduce emissions in a way which is fair and leaves no-one behind.

The Just Transition Commission has been established to provide Scottish Ministers with practical, realistic, and affordable recommendations for action that will:

• maximise the economic and social opportunities that the move to a net-zero economy by 2045 offers
• build on Scotland’s existing strengths and assets
• understand and mitigate risks that could arise in relation to regional cohesion, equalities, poverty (including fuel poverty), and a sustainable and inclusive labour market

The Commission’s final recommendations are due by January 2021, and will be reported to:

• Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform
• Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Communities
• Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work, and Culture

Why your views matter

The Commission’s remit tasks it with working openly and transparently and engaging meaningfully with workers, communities, NGOs, businesses and other relevant bodies across Scotland.

To support this, we are inviting written submissions to inform the development of our final recommendations. We hope this will provide as wide a range of individuals, representative bodies, public bodies and businesses as possible the opportunity to feed into our work.

Please be aware that the consultation closing date has been extended to 30 June.

Read the consultation paper. More information can be found on gov.scot.

What happens next

An analysis of consultation responses will be published. Responses will be published where consent has been given.