A few days ago, the report Care Work in the Just Transition: Providing for People and Planet (original title) was presented, a brief resulting from the work developed by the Transición Justa e Coidados network, coordinated by CISPAC researcher Stefania Barca since 2021. Precisely, this entity is promoted by the CISPAC, the Center for Environmental Justice of Colorado State University and the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), and multiple actors such as the Sindicato Labrego Galego participate on it.
The contents of this synthesis were recently presented at the joint session of the 10th International Conference on Degrowth and the 15th Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics, held in Pontevedra in June.
The report seeks to answer one question: how to properly value and finance care helps to achieve the Just Transition (JT). This concept, very present in the current public debate, is defined as a “policy framework promoted by labor and environmental justice organizations to design climate and ecological transition policies from the perspective of those most affected by social inequalities.” Thus, one of the main challenges to be answered is to compensate for the loss of jobs due to the gradual elimination of polluting industries and, in parallel, not to leave the working class behind by creating decent jobs in clean industries.
The researchers in this report point out that until now JT policies have not addressed the social and environmental role of care “and its importance in meeting basic human needs and protecting the environment”, with reference to domestic and community care, the provision of food, medical care, environmental care and education.
That is why this publication insists on shifting the focus of the JT to “appropriately value and fund” care work “in its many forms”. In this way, they say, “JT policies must adequately recognize care workers and their right to protect people and the planet.”
Then, by clicking on “download document” you can consult the full report in its Portuguese version. You can also consult the original in English and its Spanish translation.
