Grants / Projects we are funding

New Economics Foundation – Empowering post carbon communities

Grant details

Amount:£180,000

Awarded on:01/07/2020

Duration:36 months

Status:Live

Area of interest

Systems change

Themes covered

Sustainability

As the world wakes up to the realisation that our future energy system has to change, we are left imagining what will happen to communities that rely on those industries for jobs. How can we prevent a repeat of the kind of generational stagnation of local economies caused by the closure of the coals mines in many places across the UK?

What is the issue?

As we transition to a low carbon economy, a new approach to industrial strategy is needed. We must ensure that workers and communities that rely on carbon intensive industries have the voice and power to ensure people and places are not left behind by this change. This would worsen existing inequalities and create strong opposition to decarbonisation.

What will the project try to achieve?

NEF will work in regions heavily reliant on high carbon employment, including Humber, to build local just transition plans that tackle the climate crisis and ensure a sustainable and resilient economic future. These plans will be co-designed with workers, unions, businesses large and small, and broader civil society. Robust national policy development and advocacy will be interwoven with insightful framing and narrative advice, to ensure that the places are not islands of change but replicable examples of a national Just Transition to a sustainable and more equal economy.

Who might be interested in this project?

National and regional politicians and officials, LEPs, trade unions, industrial bodies, investors, climate organisations and activists, social justice organisations, think tanks.