What does one of the first corporate just transition strategies look like?

Global emissions reductions remain dangerously off course. Cuts across all industries and sectors need to come fast and deep.

“Just transitions” is the concept of managing the social impacts of decarbonisation well – minimising the negative risks and maximising the positive opportunities it will have for people and their human rights. Social disruption is one of the biggest threats to climate action today. So just transition approaches are key to achieving our global net-zero targets in time. 

With very little best practice available or international standards to guide corporate approaches, how should companies kick-start their just transition strategies and what are their priority issues?

In this episode of Voices, you will learn about one of the world’s first corporate just transition strategies from Rachel McEwan, Chief Sustainability Officer at energy company SSE, who talks with IHRB’s Haley St. Dennis about how they had to learn by doing.

SSE released one of the first-ever corporate just transition strategies in November 2020. In 2021 they followed up with an action framework honing in on the workforce transition out of high carbon activities and into renewables. And in April 2023, the company released one of the first-ever corporate disclosures on progress against its just transition strategy, including new metrics for measuring key changes and impacts.

In their conversation, Rachel and Haley talk about the local context in Scotland, how the company got started with their strategy, the principles SSE developed to guide their approach, and what some of the key lessons learned have been along the way. 

SSE develop, own and operate low carbon infrastructure to support the zero-carbon transition, including onshore and offshore wind, hydro power, electricity transmission and distribution grids, and efficient gas-fired generation with interests across Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Poland, 

You can read more about SSE’s approach here.

You can also read more about the Scottish Just Transition Commission here.

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