E tū welcomes the latest Climate Change Commission, He Pou a Rangi, report to the Government as it lays firm foundations for a Just Transition to a low-carbon economy.

Ināia tonu nei: a low emissions future for Aotearoa sets out a policy direction for a fair, inclusive, and equitable transition for workers and their communities.

E tū researcher Sam Huggard says the advice covers the core components advocated by E tū for a Just Transition: proactive transition planning with all parties at the table, widely accessible education and training, dedicated support for workers in transition, and better analysing the distributional impacts of climate policies on population groups.

“For key industries in transition, a collective approach is needed to map out the transferable skills across a workforce as a whole and actively manage the process of redeployment into new work.

“Workers know that change is coming to their jobs as a result of climate change and other trends, such as automation — that’s why a Just Transition is so necessary.

“We welcome the Commission’s recognition of the call from unions and others for this work to be secure, well paid, and decent work.”

Sam says the union also endorses the Commission’s views on the need to partner with iwi, hapū, and whānau to design an equitable transition that works for Māori, and to ensure Māori social and economic interests are protected and Te Tiriti is upheld.

“This report shows that the foundations have been laid for genuine involvement of workers in designing their future, which is necessary to give people confidence we can achieve this.”

However, key challenges remain, with significant investment needed to develop new industries or support existing ones to transition to a low-carbon future, he says.

“We think further government investment, beyond that set aside in Green Investment Finance and the Regional Strategic Partnership Fund, will be needed,” Sam says.

“Many of the support measures needed to mitigate the impact of decarbonising will come with a cost, and so we also need an honest debate and further action on tax reform, to ensure we are bringing in necessary revenue to fund the transition.”

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