Help us to avoid repeating history. We must move away from polluting industries. Anyone who understands the climate crisis knows this. However, we can’t repeat history by shutting the mines, turning off the oil rigs and walking away – abandoning those communities affected. We must take them with us. But what should a shift away from fossil fuels towards a lower-carbon society look like? How can we move towards sustainable jobs in a way that’s fair and democratic?
If you live or work in Newcastle, North Tyneside, or Northumberland, we want to hear from you – even if you haven’t thought about these issues before. By completing this short survey, you’ll help us to gather valuable data on how we can work together to build a low-carbon future collectively to ensure no one is left behind. We especially want to hear from you if you work in a ‘high-carbon’ job – e.g., construction, transport, agriculture, manufacturing, energy, industry and utilities. If you do, we’d be grateful if you could spend a few minutes filling in this separate survey, sharing your views on how we can lower carbon emissions together and plan for a sustainable future.
Elected Metro Mayor for the North of Tyne, Jamie Driscoll said: “We want to ensure that new ‘green jobs’ are inclusive, good-quality, and boost the local economy. That’s why we created the ‘Just Transitions’ project. We want to listen to the people working in high-carbon industries. We want to learn from your expertise and experience. So, if you live or work in the North of Tyne area, we want to hear from you – so we can make positive changes, together.”
This research is part of the Just Transition Research Project – led by the Energy Democracy Project (EDP), in partnership with North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) – examining what a ‘just transition’ looks like for workers, communities and organisations across the region.
A ‘just transition’ is a broad term for the many ways that communities, politicians and businesses need to connect issues of labour and climate as integral to a democratic shift away from fossil fuels toward a lower-carbon society and towards the sustainable jobs of the future. Linked to this, the project is also about determining what support is needed to help people to move towards low-carbon jobs to enable a more green, inclusive economy across the North of Tyne.
This project seeks to build on the leading climate work NTCA has already done on consulting residents via the Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change. This consultation with residents is the next step in planning for further meaningful, local action. Find out more about the project here or contact Ben Lennon ben@energydemocracyproject.com.