Energy@Ed and the Edinburgh Earth Initiative (EEI) invite you to a workshop to explore the rising importance of Just Transition issues related to sustainability transitions and the net zero imperative.

It is almost universally accepted that achieving net zero emissions is a critical step in the tackling the climate emergency. Alongside this, achieving a Just Transition – so that individuals and communities are not left behind or disadvantaged – is now also seen as imperative. Reconciling Just Transition concerns with the net zero imperative is challenging for policymakers, researchers and wider society: the impact of and pathways to a Just Transition vary for national and regional governments, industrial sectors, public bodies and different communities.

The following speakers will address these perspectives based on their current research working in partnership with some of the listed actors:

Dr. Navraj Singh Ghaleigh – Edinburgh Law School

Different views of the cathedral: Just Transitions from multiple disciplines

Navraj is SL in Climate Law at Edinburgh Law School. He works on a range of issues concerning the relationship between climate change and legal structures, including the climate credentials of export credit agencies, the legal and regulatory regimes pertinent to GHG removals, and climate litigation (as principle advisor to the FILE Foundation, the world’s largest funder of climate litigation). This research on just transitions arises from the project, "Oil & Gas Transitions: Co-creating evidence to accelerate policy action in the North Sea” which generated evidence and co-produced pathways for policy action to accelerate oil and gas transitions in the UK, Denmark and Norway.

Prof Sean Smith, Centre for Future Infrastructure

Inclusive Solutions to Support Just Transition

Sean Smith is Chair of Future Construction at the School of Engineering and Director of the Centre for Future Infrastructure. He serves on a range of Net Zero advisory boards and also the Integrated Regional Employability and Skills (IRESS) Board for the Edinburgh & SE Scotland City Region Deal focused on inclusion. He led the proposal for the establishment of a Net Zero Accelerator Hub now incorporated in the Regional Prosperity Framework and recently served on Zero Emission Social Housing Task Force (ZEST) and the Scottish Government EESSH2 Review. His proposals within the ZEST report were incorporated in Scottish Government strategy 2022 for the future development of archetype retrofit solutions for key housing types. He was advisor for the Scotland Excel national procurement program for social housing retrofit for 32 local authorities and with annual budget of £200M per year over 4 years.

Dr. Andy Hom, School of Social and Political Science

The Times of Just and Unjust Transitions

Andrew Hom is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Edinburgh, an Associate Editor of the journal International Relations, and from 2024 one of the lead editors of the Review of International Studies. He currently is a co-investigator on the British Academy Global Convening Programme, ‘The Times of a Just Transition’, looking specially at the temporal politics of unjust transitions confronting liberal democracies and international orders. His wider research interests include timing and time, security, and international relations theory. He is the author of International Relations and the Problem of Time and the co-editor of Moral Victories: The Ethics of Winning Wars; Time, Temporality, and Global Politics; and special issues on existentialism, modern wartime, the social life of time, and security studies. His most recent work can be found in the Review of International Studies, International Affairs, International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis, and Renewal.

Julia Taylor, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Julia Taylor is a Researcher on Climate and Inequality at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at Wits University. Previously, she was Researcher and Climate Policy Lead at the Institute for Economic Justice where she worked with labour unions (COSATU) on a vision for a Just Transition. Julia has previously worked on research on unemployment, sustainability consulting, and eco-education. She holds a BCom from the University of Cape Town, a PGD in Sustainable Development from Stellenbosch University, a MSc in Environment and Development from Edinburgh University, and a MCom in Applied Development Economics at Wits University. Her research interests include inequality, unemployment, feminist economics, and climate justice.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5171-9811

Please note that from June onward, bus 41 will be replaced by bus 9 for those travelling to Kings Buildings.

Perspectives on Energy and Just Transition