The moment to tackle economic and climate injustice is now
Exploring the lived reality of a just transition during a cost-of-living crisis.
Throughout the Summer of 2022, the news was heavily dominated by headlines about both the unprecedented rise in consumer prices and the increasingly visible impacts of ecological breakdown. At the same time as MPs were discussing the idea of winter ‘warm banks’ to help vulnerable residents who can’t afford to heat their homes, more wildfires were expected across the UK.
So how should those interested in a fair move to a sustainable economy respond to the cost of living crisis? Some campaigners have attempted to argue that rising energy prices can be blamed on the costs associated with transitioning away from our dependence on fossil fuels and claim the UK can no longer afford to reach its net zero emissions target by 2050.
However, those working on the frontlines of these intersecting issues draw a very different conclusion. Elle McAll, Programme Manager at the Women’s Environmental Network (WEN), says, “the root causes of social and economic injustice are the same as the causes of the climate crisis. They are inextricably linked. Right now, we have an opportunity to tackle multiple crises at the same time by looking at solutions that both decarbonise our economy and make people’s lives better’’
“The climate crisis can’t wait,” echoed Kai Heron, lecturer in politics at Birkbeck College, when pointing out that cost of living campaigns such as Don’t Pay UK and Enough is Enough should simultaneously be fighting for a just transition.
Here, four Year Here Fellows and their placement host organisations share insights on the difficulties and opportunities faced by those working at the intersection of financial vulnerability and a move towards a more sustainable world. This work came out of the partnership between Year Here and Royal London as part of the ‘Bold Ideas’ stage of the Changemakers programme. The partnership explored what causes financial vulnerability, the challenges of building economic resilience, and how we can better build people’s financial resilience. It also looked at the social and financial impacts of moving to a low-carbon economy. Together we aimed to find new and scalable solutions by giving Year Here Fellows deep insights into these challenges.
Key Insight: Often, the most vulnerable lack support and capacity to engage with just transition ideas
Year Here 2022 Fellows Jonathan Amiss, Marwa Belghazi, Rhiannon Humphreys and Alex Moran worked with different communities across London during their 5-month frontline placements.
“The just transition seems a very far away idea for the riders we work with, and I don’t think they know much about it”, said Jonathan, who was the Head of Impact at Year Here alumni venture Spedal. Spedal provides zero-emission business deliveries whilst employing riders at risk of homelessness. “The other charities and employers supporting the people we work with prioritise getting them into employment over providing education about future-proof green jobs.”
Similarly, the Tower Hamlets residents who engage with Women’s Environmental Network’s Just Food and Climate Transition programme (supporting community-led climate action reducing the environmental impacts of food systems) can’t always afford to prioritise thinking about the future green economy. “If you’re struggling to pay your bills or to put food on the table, sustainability education and a free plant pot to put on your window can feel out of touch with your urgent needs,” explains Marwa, the Year Here Fellow on placement with WEN. For WEN and the communities, they support in East London, the intersection of the economic and climate crisis is ultimately an issue of social injustice. Whilst many in their communities do make sustainable choices, like upcycling or minimising food waste, these tend to stem from financial necessity. And many other household ‘green’ steers are inaccessible because of the extra time and money required to live a sustainable lifestyle.
Cost and access were also key issues for students at London South East Colleges (LSEC), an award-winning further education institution delivering employment-focused vocational courses and affordable higher education courses to students from non-traditional backgrounds. For LSEC, their framework for a transition to net zero has been driven by Year Here Fellow Rhiannon. “The students are part of a generation who are all too aware of environmental destruction and are keen to be offered opportunities to be part of the solution, but recognise that these opportunities currently aren’t equally and accessible offered,” she said. “They are worried about the just transition — they just don’t use those words! A college-wide survey I ran during my placement showed that what students wanted was access to sustainable and low-cost catering, support to get low-cost public transport options to/from campus, and environmental education to be embedded in their courses alongside new courses exploring specifically sustainable skills.”
Ultimately it seems that people aren’t unaware of the climate issues impacting them locally, but it remains difficult for them to have resources to engage and to feel that they, as individuals, can make a difference. At the same time, the lack of community-wide participation in these issues prevents interventions from achieving their full potential. Whose responsibility is it to address this? When many locally led projects are based in spaces threatened with closure due to financial pressures, how can communities be expected to lead?
“Slowly, people are shifting from a mentality of behaviour change to acknowledging we need system change,” said Elle McAll at WEN. “If we want to make real progress on our climate goals, we have to use the opportunity for large interventions, not just focus on consumers’ habits or behaviours,” agreed Marwa. At the same time, we need to be mindful of not leaving citizens, workers and students out of conversations and doing more to create supportive processes (or what WEN refers to as ‘structured freedom’) for them to be engaged in decisions about the future. As Monica Pun, Founder & CEO of Spedal, put it, “we need to ensure tangible ways for people experiencing these financial challenges to address the climate challenge or play their part in the just transition.”
Key Insight: Decision makers want to do more but find it hard to engage with, and deliver for, their communities
“Hammersmith & Fulham Council were very aware they needed to put effort into reaching the most vulnerable in their communities,” explains Year Here Fellow Alex Moran, who worked as a Climate Outreach Officer in the council’s Climate Unit. “When I helped launch their climate microgrants programme, we took proactive steps, such as investing time to do direct community outreach, getting referrals from voluntary sector partners, and having all applications reviewed by a panel who would consider which residents they would benefit.” Even then, Alex was mindful that many council residents faced barriers to engaging, including a wariness of government institutions, language & technological challenges and reluctance to complete the application process.
These same issues have come up during the council’s attempts to roll out its retrofitting scheme to address fuel poverty; they have seen low sign-up rates and few people willing to go through the process. Although the benefits of retrofitting, installing heat pumps and solar panels can be substantial, tenants are cautious to sign up.
Even when the council does get good engagement — for example, an estimated 600 residents joined the council’s events as part of London Climate Action week — it can be challenging to set clear impact indicators and collect data on to what extent these activities genuinely make a tangible change for locals.
For LSEC, the transition to net zero is a top priority. Their Year Here Fellow Rhiannon reflected that “the continuous underfunding of further education colleges over the past few years means they are in a really challenging position […] they just can’t afford the time, headspace or creativity to think about what might have the best impact.”
Even social entrepreneurs, who are deeply in tune with the needs of their beneficiaries and often have the flexibility to change their approach, have found it tricky to integrate both financial support and just transition considerations. “The future of work is green — but most jobs that are out there are focused on university-educated, white people, often in strategy, policy or campaigning. At Spedal, we want to build resilience in employability markets for prison leavers or homeless young people who would like to access green jobs while getting their life in order,” Monica said. “But we also need to understand how we can fund the social impact we want to create whilst remaining competitive as a provider.”
What can be done when both citizens and social impact organisations are facing so much pressure?
“Councils need support from the private sector” is a reflection from Alex on his work with Hammersmith & Fulham council. They have, in fact, already started the Climate Alliance, which brings together SMEs, big businesses and community organisations to jointly learn about and help each other tackle the climate emergency. In general, Alex feels that the work the council has done to date in gathering a lot of information and listening to residents will now allow them to successfully switch to a focus on more concrete actions.
Rhiannon suggests that colleges like LSEC must make sustainability a central part of all conversations, not a separate subject. “Each department should have a bespoke sustainability manager who can really head up transforming that department to centralise the environment and consider it as holistically as economic ‘progress’. A step beyond this would be for organisations to be willing to be genuinely revolutionary — like Patagonia, for example — and embrace big changes that feel uncomfortable but ultimately would have a positive impact. For example, LSEC could decide to become a specialist sustainability college — it certainly has the campus and means to […], and there could be a great business case — but it would mean disrupting the status quo significantly.”
Finally, more organisations could take WEN’s multi-pronged approach to achieve change — which could be through a combination of grassroots initiatives, radical reimagining, sharing learning and political campaigning.
Jonathan, Marwa, Rhiannon and Alex have now completed their placements, moving on to the Venture Lab phase of Year Here to design & test innovative business solutions to these pressing social challenges.
