The State must rapidly strengthen its support for social dialogue between Government, unions, employers, communities and civil society organisations, or risk failing to meet its climate action obligations under Irish law and international agreements, according to Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan.

He was speaking earlier this month at the launch of the Just Transition Alliance – a coalition of unions and environmental groups dedicated to achieving effective climate action without adverse impacts on jobs and communities.

Kevin said that, so far, there had been no formal consultation on the jobs impact of official carbon-reduction proposals, despite strong advice from the Climate Change Advisory Council that official carbon budgets should follow proactive engagement with social partners.

The new alliance called on the Government to establish a ‘national just transition commission,’ comprised of representatives of Government, trade unions, employers, affected communities and civil society. It says this commission should be charged with making proposals for an economy-wide framework for a just transition in advance of the publication of legislation.

“Job losses and lower living standards are not the automatic outcome of climate action. They come instead from poor policy and bad planning. It will not be possible to build and sustain public support for vital climate action if it’s allowed to become synonymous with job losses and lower living standards,” said Kevin.

The Just Transition Alliance is an ICTU initiative which includes Fórsa, Siptu, Friends of the Earth and TASC, Ireland’s think tank for action on social change. It aims to work with other like-minded organisations to put the internationally supported just transition model at the centre of Ireland’s official response to the climate crisis.

Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUF) told the launch that trust and confidence were vital to ensure that working people and their communities support the rapid action necessary to stabilise the planet.

Friends of the Earth director Oisín Coghlan said: “We need to cut polluting emissions fast enough to avoid complete climate breakdown. And fairly enough to leave no one behind. A just ttransition for workers and communities affected by the race to zero must be at the heart of this effort.

Shana Cohen, the Director of the progressive think-tank TASC said the war in Ukraine had highlighted the need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

“We can’t act against the impact of climate change with high and persistent levels of inequality, because families and individuals won’t have the resources to engage, while the public must also have confidence that climate action works for them.

“The best policy response would be for the government to think long-term and more comprehensively about how changes in jobs, lifestyles, education and training, and income influence effective climate action, and likewise, the contribution of civil society and local government to bolstering public confidence in government decision-making,” she said.