Research project
Just transition in the UK
- Start date: 1 December 2020
- End date: 31 December 2030
- Principal investigator: Professor Vera Trappmann
- Co-investigators: Dr Jo Cutter, Dr Ursula Balderson, Dr Felix Schulz
Description
Researchers in the Centre for Employment Relations Innovation and Change have embarked on a research programme that considers how climate crisis and mitigation, decarbonisation, and net zero will impact the world of work.
We study the transformation process towards a new social-ecological organisation of the economy with an interest in how it will affect workers, and how workers can shape this transformation. That this transformation is fair and just for workers and communities is not only a political demand, but a principle guiding this transformation.
We are a group of researchers with a background in employment relations, sociology of work, economics, and engineering, interested in shaping this Just Transition in the UK. We collaborate with the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission, trade unions, think tanks, and businesses.
Publications and outputs
Reports
- “Climate change, green economy and work: the perception of workers in Germany and the UK”, November 2023
- UK workers and the low-carbon transition: worker perspectives on the climate crisis, the low-carbon transition and employment, October 2023
- Erwartungen von Beschäftigten an die sozial-ökologische Transformation – Ergebnisse einer repräsentativen Umfrage zu Klimawandel und Arbeitswelt / Workers‘ expectations for the social ecological transformation – Results from a representative survey on climate change and the world of work. In German. October 2023
- Transformation braucht Beteiligung / Transformation requires participation. In German. October 2023
- Community members, climate change, the green economy and just transition, October 2022
- UNISON members, climate change, the green economy and just transition, October 2022
- Decarbonising the Foundation Industries and the implications for workers and skills in the UK: The case of steel, glass and cement industries, September 2022
- Worker perceptions of climate change & the green transition in Yorkshire and the Humber: Building the evidence base for the just transition in the region, Full report, December 2021
- Worker perceptions of climate change & the green transition in Yorkshire and the Humber, Key messages, December 2021
Policy
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Evidence submitted to the Public Accounts Committee, October 2022
Journal articles and books
- Just transition: the tension between work, employment and climate change. Jo Cutter, Vera Trappmann, and Dunja Krause. Chapter 5 in: A Research Agenda for Sustainability and Business, Edited by Sally Russell and Rory Padfield.
Media and blog posts
- Sunak’s climate shift is out of touch with the demands of the UK’s workforce – here’s why, Jo Cutter and Vera Trappmann, The Conversation, November 2023
- How steel workers see climate change affecting the future of their industry, Jo Cutter and Vera Trappmann, Research and Innovation Blog, May 2023
Related projects
- Just Transition: action, concepts, debates and strategies - an international comparison across 11 countries
- The Future of Work in Just Transitions
- The worker voice in Just Transitions to a low-carbon economy: building evidenced based policy making in Yorkshire and the Humber
Contact: Professor Vera Trappmann