Perspectives on Social and Justice Issues in Climate Policy – Comparing the Just Transitions, Sustainable Welfare and Eco-Social Policy Literatures

Given that the climate emergency is accelerating, transformative climate action becomes increasingly urgent. Considering social and fairness implications of climate action is critical to avoid widening inequalities and public opposition. The just transitions (JT) and sustainable welfare/eco-social policy (SW/ESP) literatures both address social and fairness issues related to climate action. However, they have developed largely separately from each other and are not well integrated, limiting the capacity to holistically consider social and fairness issues in climate action. To examine differences and synergies between these two bodies of literature, this paper compares their stances on key themes of capitalism and economic growth, work and welfare, and global justice. While both of these literatures are internally diverse, JT publications tend to focus on justice implications for workers in high carbon sectors, and SW/ESP research examines how welfare systems can support wellbeing for all within planetary boundaries. The JT literature would benefit from a more systematic consideration of post-capitalist and post-growth debates, which are more prevalent in the SW/ESP literature, including options for decoupling welfare from work and from economic growth. The JT literature increasingly discusses issues on global justice and decolonization, but the SW/ESP literature has so far largely failed to examine these themes, a gap that it should address. Overall, we argue that each of the literatures can integrate aspects from the other to form a more holistic and transformative approach for addressing social and fairness issues in climate policy.