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Jobs aren't enough: Redefining just transitions in Australia with community voices

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The transition to a low carbon economy is underway in Australia and many other advanced economies with significant social, economic and employment challenges. For a just transition to succeed it must reduce emissions while ensuring that the benefits and burdens of any transition are fairly shared at the local and global level. A social justice framework is crucial to ensure regional communities are not made worse off by transition strategies. Our study employed critical discourse analysis to examine key government and media articles on the energy transformation in Queensland, Australia as well as qualitative responses to a survey done in Gladstone, a town central to the Queensland transition. We find that the government focuses on manufacturing ‘community’ and emphasising the importance of generating jobs and training to ensure Queensland is a clean energy superpower. However, this framing misses the more nuanced understanding of what a just transition could be according to community members. We argue for adopting social policies that tackle both climate change and other community priorities to bolster support from local stakeholders for climate action.

Source: Energy Research & Social Science

DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2025.103999

Authors: Rose-Marie Stambe, Greg Marston, Darryn Snell, Jeremy Moss

Language: English

Topic: Sustainable Development and Policies

Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Climate action, Reduced inequalities, Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,450

Funder: Australian Research Council