New societal alliances for just transition pathways in Germany
The climate and biodiversity crises continue to come to a dramatic head, while the political responses to these challenges remain inadequate, even after the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court. Climate targets have been sharpened, but how they are to be achieved remains currently unclear. What is clear is that far-reaching climate and biodiversity policies are inextricably linked to social agendas. However, a transformation policy in the sense of a Just Transition needs much more than a mere compensation policy. It must also shape far-reaching processes of structural change in different sectors in a socially just manner, or it is doomed to fail.
The project "New Social Alliances for Just Transition pathways in Germany" picks up on the questions of the conceptualization and institutionalization of Just Transitions which came out of the project "New Alliances for Sustainability Policy", which was supported by the Federal Environment Agency. To this end, the project aims to continue and deepen the relationships and networks between socially and environmentally oriented civil society organizations which were established in the preceding project. In collaboration with these organisations a joint long-term perspective and possible policy approaches for governing a "Just Transition" will be explored through a number of workshops
The project activities from May 2021 to November 2022 take place in the context of the German federal election in September 2021 and the processes and debates that precede and follow it. One aim of the project is to foster more political visibility and debate about the topic of just transitions and to put forward ideas within such discussions (e.g. through social media and press work). Towards that end the project team has developed a policy briefing paper with recommendations for new institutional arrangements for a Just Transition. This policy paper will be launched in an online discussion event which is co-hosted by the IÖW and the Open Society Foundations and where the proposals will be discussed with representatives from political parties.
