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Governance

Scotland's Just Transition Commission Visits Dumfries and Galloway With Three New Members

Published on
21 Aug 2024

Overview

Scotland’s Just Transition Commission is in Dumfries and Galloway this week to examine how the region is managing the move to a low carbon economy. The Commission will meet with local residents on Thursday and Friday to hear about the challenging issues of housing, agriculture and forestry, visiting a retrofit project by Loreburn Housing Association and Carsphairn Heritage Centre.

Three new members have been announced. Louisa Macdonell, Scotland Director for Business in the Community, author and climate scientist Hannah Ritchie, University of Oxford, and Stephen Smellie of UNISON’s National Executive and the Just Transition Partnership have all joined the Commission, having each been involved in its work since early 2024.

Louisa Macdonell is the Scotland Director for Business in the Community (BITC) focusing on helping business champion social mobility, environmental responsibility, and community regeneration across Scotland. Louisa is Entrepreneur-in Residence at the University of Edinburgh Business School, trustee on the board of Social Investment Scotland, the responsible finance provider, and sits on the advisory board of Interface, which connects academics to business to stimulate innovation.

Hannah Ritchie is Deputy Editor at Our World in Data, a senior researcher in the Programme for Global Development at the University of Oxford, and an honorary fellow at the University of Edinburgh. She holds a BSc in Environmental Geoscience, MSc in Carbon Management, and PhD, all from the University of Edinburgh. Her first book – Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet – is a Sunday Times bestseller that takes an optimistic, data-driven look at the world’s environmental problems and how to solve them.

Stephen Smellie is a member of the public service union UNISON’s National Executive Council and has been active in developing his union’s policies on climate and Just Transition. He is a member of the STUC/FOES Just Transition Partnership. He has been employed in local government since 1982 working in community development and social work.

 

The independent expert advisory group advises the Scottish Government on how the country can achieve a carbon neutral economy fairly. It aims to make sure the benefits and burdens caused by major changes are shared as fairly as possible.

Members drawn from industry, business and finance, trade unions, environmental and community groups, and academia serve on the Commission. They provide expert scrutiny and advice on a series of just transition plans that cover different regions and sectors of Scotland’s economy.

The Commission made headlines last month with a new report on the future of Grangemouth, Scotland’s largest industrial site. The Commission wrote to the new UK Government to welcome “a positive strategic reset” in the relationship between Holyrood and Westminster and share a new report setting out the key next steps to support people at Grangemouth as operations are decarbonised.

The independent Commission urged the new UK Government and Scottish Government to not only support those whose current livelihoods are on the line, but also deliver tangible results for young people and the local community through a serious and detailed long-term plan. “The retention of jobs and the local skills base on an intergenerational basis must be the core strategic aim of Grangemouth’s just transition plan” says the report.

“We are really pleased that Louisa, Hannah and Stephen are joining the Commission, rounding out the range of expertise within our membership through their knowledge of challenges faced by business, climate science and the role of data in effective policymaking, and the vital work of local government in supporting communities across Scotland through the big changes underway as we move to a low carbon economy.”

Co-Chairs Satwat Rehman and Dave Reay

"I’m delighted to be taking on the role of the Just Transition Commissioner at such an important time for Scotland in its journey to net zero. Reaching our net zero goals in a way that ensures no one gets left behind is not only the right thing to do, but it is also essential, so the inequalities gap does not widen any further. The only way to achieve a just transition is for the public, private and voluntary sectors to work closely together to create solutions to address our collective challenges. I look forward to working with the rest of the Just Transition Commission to drive this essential agenda forward."

Louisa Macdonell, Director Scotland, Business in the Community

"Decarbonising Scotland’s economy and tackling climate change is a top priority. But this alone won’t be enough: we need to make sure we deliver a transition in a just and fair way. It’s not acceptable to leave communities behind. I think this is possible, and I hope that guidance from the Just Transition Commission can help the government and society to deliver this in the years ahead. Do it well, and Scotland can provide a positive model for other countries to follow."

Hannah Ritchie, Senior researcher, Programme for Global Development at University of Oxford and Deputy Editor Our World in Data

"The Just Transition Commission has been a critical friend to the Scottish Government as it seeks to lead the nation to a Net-Zero future. I am delighted to join it as the need for such a critical friend is needed more than ever. We are at risk of not living up to the ambitions we, as a country, set ourselves. There is much to be done to achieve the targets we set and to ensure that the transition that is underway will be fair to the workers who will be displaced, that it will truly be a Just Transition. That will require action to transform our economy, valuing those existing net-zero jobs in the care, health, and service industries, as well as creating new jobs in renewables, green manufacturing industries and their supply chains. I hope to be able to contribute to the Just Transition Commission’s mission to assist the government to achieve the Net-Zero future we all aspire to"

Stephen Smellie, Branch Secretary Unison South Lanarkshire