Word of the month: Just transition
We have been a little obsessed with Just Transition lately. And for good reason. It has been several decades since the demand for a just transition for workers was introduced as a key goal in the efforts to tackle environmental degradation. To give some background, The Just Transition Alliance was founded in 1997 as a coalition of frontline workers from polluting industries and those that live on the fences of them to create healthy workplaces and communities.
Just Transition is a vision-led, unifying and place-based set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy. This means approaching production and consumption cycles holistically and waste-free. -Climate Justice Alliance
There is a saying in the climate justice movement about how our society will respond to climate change: “Transition is inevitable, justice is not.” Worldwide experiences have shown that economic and social justice is attained only with full engagement of workers, unions, and organized community members with the power to negotiate effective agreements with business and government. The pioneering work of corporations, fossil fuel industries, elite politicians, and the unsustainable growth imperative to capitalism show that to be as true on environmental issues as it has been on impacting incomes and working conditions.
From Movement Generation zine.
“A Just Transition requires us to build a visionary economy for life in a way that is very different than the economy we are in now. Constructing a visionary economy for life calls for strategies that democratize, decentralize and diversify economic activity while we damper down consumption, and (re)distribute resources and power. Just Transition initiatives shift the economy from dirty energy to energy democracy, from funding highways to expanding public transit, from incinerators and landfills to zero waste, from industrial food systems to food sovereignty, from gentrification to community land rights, and from rampant destructive development to ecosystem restoration. Core to a Just Transition is deep democracy in which workers and communities have control over the decisions that affect their daily lives.” - Movement Generation.
Locally, the leadership we need towards a just transition can be found in the knowledge and resilience of kānaka, frontline communities, and each of us working together to be decision-makers rooted in collective meaningful kuleana. That is no pie in the sky goal, it’s already underway.
A brilliant example of a local just transition is ʻAina Aloha Economic Futures, which is an incredible example of deep democracy. Drafted by a group of Native Hawaiian community members, their declaration uplifts “their voices, values, and experiences to influence the economic recovery for ʻāina aloha.” They are making a greater call for unity guided by the following principles:
Āina Aloha: We are of and from this ʻāina that ultimately sustains us. We employ strategies for economic development that place our kuleana to steward precious, limited resources in a manner that ensures our long-term horizon as a viable island people and place.
ʻŌpū Aliʻi: Our leaders understand that their privilege to lead is directly dependent on those they serve. From the most vulnerable to the most privileged, we seek to regenerate an abundance that provides for everyone. Decision makers understand and embrace their duty and accountability to Community. Our social, economic and government systems engage and respond to a collective voice in integrative ways to balance power and benefit.
ʻImi ʻOi Kelakela: We are driven by creativity and innovation, constantly challenging the status quo. We are mindful and observant of needs, trends and opportunities and seek new knowledge and development opportunities in ways that enhance our way of life without jeopardizing our foundation of ʻāina aloha.
Hoʻokipa: We are inclusive and embrace the collective that will call Hawaiʻi home, grounded in the fundamental understanding that it is our kuleana to control and manage our resources in a way that allows us to fulfill our role as hosts here in our ʻāina aloha.
Just Transition is a framework, process, and practice that we hope to embody in our work more and more each day. I hope it inspires all of you to see that solutions surround us everyday. After all, it is everyday people rising to the occasion after years of government failure, corporate corruption, and placing leadership outside of our own community.