How can we secure jobs in the shift towards sustainable production?

The ambition of most countries across the world is to develop a low-carbon economy, evidenced by the fact that the vast majority of countries have signed the Paris COP21 agreement. This book contends that this global societal transition to a low-carbon economy must be just. As such, it will be an invaluable and accessible reference for scholars from all research disciplines who aim in their research to see a fairer, more equitable and inclusive world where sustainability is at the fore and climate targets are achieved. This is the first in-depth and original analysis to explore the central importance of law in achieving a just transition to a low-carbon economy. In addition, it advances the JUST framework, a unique framework for assessing the just transition. This important research and theoretical tool provides a practical perspective as it ensures the geographical space and timelines of development are factored into analysis. The research also provides analysis on the just transition movement around the world and the influence of international institutions. Through several case studies on Just Transition Commissions and Critical Mineral Development, the book details and demonstrates key elements of justice, including distributive, procedural, restorative, recognition, and cosmopolitan justice. It is clear from the analysis that while these are vast areas for analysis, if applied in practice, they all centrally contribute to ensuring society will advance in achieving a just transition to a low-carbon economy.

With transitions to more sustainable ways of living already underway, this book examines how we understand the underlying dynamics of the transitions that are unfolding. Without this understanding, we enter the future in a state of informed bewilderment. Every day we are bombarded by reports about ecosystem breakdown, social conflict, economic stagnation and a crisis of identity. There is mounting evidence that deeper transitions are underway that suggest we may be entering another period of great transformation equal in significance to the agricultural revolution some 13,000 years ago or the Industrial Revolution 250 years ago. This book helps readers make sense of our global crisis and the dynamics of transition that could result in a shift from the industrial epoch that we live in now to a more sustainable and equitable age. The global renewable energy transition that is already underway holds the key to the wider just transition. However, the evolutionary potential of the present also manifests in the mushrooming of ecocultures, new urban visions, sustainability-oriented developmental states and new ways of learning and researching. Shedding light on the highly complex challenge of a sustainable and just transition, this book is essential reading for anyone concerned with establishing a more sustainable and equitable world. Ultimately, this is a book about hope but without easy answers.

EN SEULEMENT QUELQUES DÉCENNIES, les pays du monde entier sont devenus bien plus interdépendants qu’on n’aurait jamais pu l’imaginer. Notre regard sur le monde évolue et, avec lui, la demande pour que les cultures et les institutions politiques de la planète « pensent globalement » se fait croissante. Si penser globalement est souvent pavé de bonnes intentions, agir globalement sans tenir compte des réalités locales peut produire des résultats involontairement néfastes. Dans Une Transition juste, le célèbre auteur et entrepreneur camerounais NJ Ayuk montre comment cette triste réalité advient alors que les ambitieuses politiques de l’Agence internationale de l’énergie (AIE) en matière d’énergie verte étouffent et paralysent les économies énergétiques de l’Afrique. Avec une abondance naturelle de ressources pétrolières et gazières, l’Afrique a le potentiel d’être un leader mondial de l’énergie, mais l’énergie verte seule ne permettra pas d’opérer cette transformation. Une Transition juste analyse en détail la possibilité d’un avenir radieux pour les pays africains et les facteurs qui y font obstacle. NJ Ayuk nous présente un récit détaillé dans lequel il aborde avec expertise des sujets importants comme la réalité de la précarité énergétique, la valeur du gaz naturel en Afrique, l’impact néfaste de l’aide internationale en Afrique, l’adoption des nouvelles technologies ou encore la création de débouchés économiques pour les femmes. Avec une gouvernance réfléchie, du flair pour les perspectives d’avenir et l’attention toute particulière que les pays touchés par des réformes de grande envergure méritent, le continent africain est en mesure d’opérer une transition vers les énergies renouvelables juste et florissante pour toutes les parties concernées.

This book is designed to provide assistance to presidents, trustees, faculty, and other important stakeholder groups and help them avoid the pitfalls of poorly managed transitions.

Follow the journey of a Canadian and Indian couple, Savannah and Sandeep, as they travel the world to capture the human side of one of the biggest energy transitions of our times - the global shift from fossil fuels to renewables. In this exciting and provocative new book, readers are taken into the homes of the coal miners who live and work in Jharia, a town in India that has been on fire for the past 100 years due to poor coal mining practices. Life in Jharia is a version of Dante's inferno - 700,000 people live in the most unimaginable conditions. Yet even though residents of Jharia say they are dying slowly every day, they also say they'll never leave. Almost 11,000 kilometres away, in the Canadian oil sands, workers and indigenous people similarly describe their complex relationship with the industry that employs them. Although fossil fuel extraction is harming the environment and impacting people's way of life in the oil sands region, a much-needed shift to renewable energy could also leave communities without their livelihoods. Written in the form of a travelogue, Total Transition provides a whirlwind look at the global growth of renewable energy - highlighting exciting developments in solar and wind energy in Canada, India, Africa and Europe, and discussing hurdles standing in the way of a total transition. Energy experts and leaders of innovative renewable energy projects share hope and optimism about the future of fossil fuel workers and their communities in an increasingly renewable world.

Calgary, Alberta is a culturally diverse urban metropolis. Sprawling and car-dependent, fast-growing and affluent, it is dominated by the fossil fuel industry. For 30 years, Calgary has struggled to turn sustainability rhetoric into reality. Sustainability Matters is the story of Calgary's setbacks and successes on the path toward sustainability. Chronicling two decades of public conversations, political debate, urban policy and planning, and scholarly discovery, it is both a fascinating case study and an accessible introduction to the theory and practice of urban sustainability. A clear-eyed view of the struggles of turning knowledge into action, this book illuminates the places where theory and reality converge and presents an approach to municipal development, planning, and governance that takes seriously the urgent need to address climate change and injustice. Addressing a wide variety of topics and themes, including energy, diversity, economic development, and ecological health, Sustainability Matters is both a critique of current practice and a vision for the future that uses the city of Calgary as a microcosm to address issues faced by cities around the world. This is essential reading not only for every Calgarian working for a vibrant and sustainable future, but for all those interested in in the future of cities in a post-carbon world.