New report: How do we make the climate transition fair?

Climate change urgently needs to be addressed, and the green transition means that a lot has to change. But who will change, and how will it change? 

It is clear that climate change will affect people in different ways. Some will find it harder than others to adapt their lives and daily routines, and the transition will place different demands on different countries, with different demands on different regions within each country. This report translates and summarises the findings of the book The Life We Live Here (Livet som pågår här) published by Atlas (Palmér Rivera & Pelling 2024) and produced by the progressive think tank Arena Idé with support from the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, LO.

The municipalities where these interviews where undertaken, lack financial resources but are rich in other ways: in natural resources and in experiences. Not least, they are rich in concrete experience of transformative change: the transition from heavy industry to small-scale industry, from a garrison town to a tourist resort, from the rapid growth of the golden years to the slow decline of today. Now the people in these communities are facing another transition. How can their experiences be used to address the just transition? What is needed for people to see the climate transition as fair and desirable? What other problems need to be solved for the climate transition to be accepted and implemented?

Download and read our new report: The life we live here – conversations about climate change and just transition now!

About the Authors

Marika Palmér Rivera has a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering. She is a research officer focusing on Just Transition Policy at the Swedish Trade Union Confederation LO.

Lisa Pelling, PhD, is a Swedish political scientist and the head of the Stockholm-based independent progressive think tank Arena Idé.