Four years on from COP26 in Glasgow – exploring how we make worker led climate transition a reality
Saturday 18 October, 10am – 5pm: Augustine Church, 41 George IV Bridge, EH1 1EL
Confirmed speakers include Unite activists Clara Paillard and Raymond Morell, Leonor Canadas from Portuguese climate group Climaximo, Jonathan Neale – activist and author of Fight the Fire: Green New Deals and Global Climate Jobs, Simon Pirani activist and author of Burning Up – a global history of fossil fuel consumption, and Ellen Robottom from the Campaign against Climate Change Trade Union Group. There will be films from REELnews introduced by Shaun Dey.
There will be workshops on Organising at Work, Nuclear Power and why it’s not the answer, film from the Italian GKN occupation and discussion, developing working class based environmental movements, building Community Power and Resilience. We expect to add more to this list.
The venue is accessible. There are steps at the front of the building but a ramp is available to facilitate access – let us know if you will need this. The Augustine Church is about ten minutes walk from Waverley Station – there are bus stops near to the building.
Register
Registration is free – please complete the registration form to let us know you are coming
Sponsor: We depend on the support of trade union branches, trades councils, community organisations and individuals. If you or your organisation can sponsor the conference please complete the sponsorship form.
Conference Programme
The 2025 conference is sponsored by (to date):
Unite Scottish Construction/164/404 Branch, Edinburgh Climate Coalition, Edinburgh Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, East Ayrshire TUC, Scottish Trade Union Peace Network
This list will be updated as new sponsors come in
About the conference
Previous conferences in 2018 and 2019 were effective in bringing together workers and climate activists to develop thinking about climate jobs and just transition.
In the current moment the Scottish Government is in retreat from climate commitments and in both Westminster and Holyrood policy agendas remain aligned with the interests of the big energy companies. We’ve had the debacle of Grangemouth, a huge missed opportunity. Certainly the production of renewables, principally wind and solar, is expanding rapidly but at the same time carbon emissions from fossil fuels continue to grow too. And around the world far right parties push climate denial and slash already limited transition programmes.
The conference aims and activities include
- Imagining the future and thinking about what that means for campaigning
- Provide a space for rank and file trade unionists and climate activists to talk together
- Workshops on organising at work
- Breaking down silos – thinking about how climate, Palestine, Divestment from arms production, Housing and State Repression are interconnected
- Sharing skills and experiences from across the climate and workers movements.
Previous Conferences
Conference 2018
On the 17th November 2018 Scot.E3 held its first conference – Just Transitions: Employment, Energy and Environment. Around fifty people attended and contributors to the plenary sessions included Jonathan Neale (Campaign Against Climate change and coauthor of the Million Climate Jobs pamphlet), Andrew Feinstein (author, filmmaker and CAAT), Fliss Premu (REEL news) Hazel Graham (Cumbrian climate activist) and Brian Parkin (Scot.E3). The conference was supported by Our Forth Against Unconventional Gas, Unite Scottish Construction/164/404 Branch, SNP Trade Union Group, Campaign Against the Arms Trade (Edinburgh), Fife Trades Union Council, Muslim Women’s Association of Edinburgh, Aberdeen Trades Union Council, Edinburgh Trades Union Council, Midlothian Trades Union Council and Dalkeith UCATT.
Videos of all the plenary contributions to the conference can be found on the blog.
Throughout the day participants worked on ideas for a Climate Jobs Manifesto. The Manifesto is a working document – we know it’s not the last word – but it outlines what the conference believed needs to happen if we are to make a rapid and just transition towards a zero carbon economy. The Manifesto is downloadable as a PDF and as an editable Word document and is openly licensed CC BY 4.0 This means that provided you work within the terms of the license you can download it, use, reprint, modify and share.
What we’d like you to do
If you are a member of a trade union, community group or political party please discuss the Manifesto at a meeting. If you have amendments, additions, questions or disagreements please note them down and email them to us at triple.e.scot@gmail.com
Conference 2019
Our 2019 conference was titled: Just Transition – thinking global, acting local. It took place all day on Saturday 16th November at the St Ninian’s Hall, Greyfriars Charteris Centre, 138-140 The Pleasance, Edinburgh. Check out the programme here.
During the day REELNews showed footage of Climate Rebels in US working class and indigenous communities. Speakers included Simon Pirani, Clara Paillard, Mary Church, Davie Brockett and Eurig Scandrett (UCU Scotland). There were lots of opportunities for discussion and debate and throughout the day there were workshop sessions with parallel themes:
- Phasing out oil and gas
- Taking the case for climate jobs into the unions
- How we make just transition a practical and strategic part of the climate movement
- Defence divestment and its importance to transition
- Housing, health and fuel poverty
The 2019 conference was sponsored/supported financially by Unite/UCATT Dalkeith, Unite Scottish Construction/164/404 Branch, Edinburgh Campaign Against the Arms Trade, Muslim Women’s Association of Edinburgh, Midlothian Trades Council, Edinburgh University UCU and UCU Scotland.
The first plenary session of the conference saw Shaun Dey from REEL News present a sequence of film clips ‘American Climate Rebels’. Read the report here.
Employment, Energy and Environment 