Putting people at the heart of the green transition

WWF and IPPR are working alongside many other environmental and civil society groups to develop policy proposals for investment in decarbonisation and the restoration of nature that maximise the benefits for the people and places most impacted by the transition as well as those in most need of a boost to their local economy.

This collection sets out a number of examples of what a just transition and a Green New Deal could mean for different sectors of the economy and parts of the country and suggests how it could be delivered in a way that would secure widespread public support.

It is designed to bring two new things into the discussion about a just transition and a Green New Deal. First, it gives a platform to a varied set of voices from various political traditions, businesses, workers and young people who haven’t entered the workforce yet, as well as the academics, politicians and institutions that spend their time developing and delivering policy on the environment but don’t often focus on the social impact. We want this to be the start of a broader conversation about how we can make the transition to a green economy work for people.

Second, the collection surveys the areas where we’ll need investment and policy across both climate and nature, because it is necessary to address the crisis in both at the same time. Done right, climate action will help us preserve nature, and restoring nature will help us mitigate and adapt to climate change – but importantly from a Green New Deal perspective discussing them together helps us work out how we deliver on both in a way that is fair and maximises benefits to people too.