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The second Just Transition Commission convened in early 2022 with a remit to provide scrutiny and advice on the Scottish Government’s sectoral and regional just transition plans. This initial report sets out strategic priorities to ensure the decarbonisation of Scotland's economy is delivered fairly.

Introduction and overview

Scotland's renewed Just Transition Commission (JTC) will sit for the duration of this Scottish Parliament. As with the first JTC, it operates independently, drawing on expertise and experience from leading figures in industry, business, trade unions, academia, and environmental and community groups. It works alongside bodies with related remits such as the Fair Work Convention and Poverty and Inequality Commission. The overall mission remains the same – a fair transition to net zero emissions in Scotland, undertaken in partnership with those impacted by the transition.

The Scottish Government accepted and committed to act on all of the recommendations made by the first JTC, including the establishment of a Ministerial Just Transition post. The Scottish Government's response to the first JTC's report published in March 2021 showed admirable ambition. This ambition now needs to be matched with action from Government, and across society, that materially enhances the livelihoods and well-being of people across Scotland as we decarbonise rapidly and at scale.

The new Commission has been tasked with providing scrutiny and advice on Scottish Government-led Just Transition Plans, advising on the most suitable approaches to monitoring and evaluation and engaging with those most likely to be impacted by the transition. We need to focus on the practicalities of delivering a just transition, identifying strategic opportunities, risks and roadblocks, and the actions required to address these.

The renewed Commission has met five times since January 2022, and this is our first report. Annual reports will follow from 2023 onwards. This report reflects recent progress in embedding the principle of a just transition into the reality of policy planning and delivery. Just transition as a framing policy concept now enjoys wide-ranging support in Scotland, and our approach has attracted considerable interest among international partners.

The Scottish Government's Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) will be published later this year. This will be followed by other sectoral Just Transition Plans in 2023, which will feed into the next Climate Change Plan, expected in draft form by late 2023. This report therefore comes at a critical moment, with the capacity to influence policy developments that will shape decisively the path we in Scotland take towards a net zero economy.

To that end, this Initial report sets out the priorities which, in the view of the Commission, are of primary importance in delivering a just transition for Scotland. It is intended as a resource, first and foremost for policymakers, but also for industry, businesses, workers, communities, researchers and practitioners – to everyone taking an active part in helping shape a just transition.

A crucial aspect of the JTC's new remit calls for advice on how best to monitor and evaluate Scotland's progress towards a just transition. The Scottish Government's Just Transition Outcomes offer a starting point for the development, now underway, of a robust set of key performance indicators, based on in-depth quantitative and qualitative analysis. Progress should be assessed in an accurate and timely manner, enabling success by locating areas of risk and helping to prevent unjust outcomes. This report establishes some important principles for effective monitoring and evaluation to support a just transition. More detailed advice on this topic will follow in our annual reports.

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