Nordic Toolbox for a Just Green Transition

Develop a vision

Inspiring people is key to making the green transition a success. Positive visions and compelling scenarios of a sustainable future can help generate public support, especially if developed in collaboration with stakeholders. By contrast, framing the green transition mainly as a burden will likely lead to resistance.

Key messages:

Create a vision of how life will be in a more sustainable and green society.

Engage a broad range of stakeholders in shaping that vision.

Use the vision to inspire action.

What are the challenges?

1. The green transition can feel burdensome

The green transition can benefit everyone, for example through better air and water quality, improved health and well-being, better public transport infrastructure, new green jobs and sustainable green energy. However, in political and public debate, the emphasis is often placed on the risks and challenges of the transition – both real and perceived. Ambitious policies can therefore feel burdensome.

2. Ambitious goals may seem unrealistic

A narrow focus on the costs, challenges and hurdles of the green transition can lead people to believe that achieving ambitious climate goals is impossible. That can dampen engagement and optimism.

3. The green transition becomes too politicised

The green transition is a long-term process that requires commitment and clear, specific framework conditions for the numerous stakeholders and investors involved. Shifting goals and short-term policies hinder progress.

One talks about the green transition being a big cost, but you have to turn this around. Away with this argument! What do we gain from it? Everyone wins.
-Civil society actor representing people with disabilities

What can policymakers do?

1: Establish clear goals and common ground

To be successful, actors involved in the green transition need clear goals and a strong commitment from across the political spectrum that outlasts election cycles. Aim to build common ground around the goal that all people should enjoy a high quality of life, with the green transition as a strategy for achieving this. The green transition should be a uniting, not a dividing force.

Strambo, C. & Thazin Aung, M. (2019). Five lessons from past mining closures. SEI Feature. Stockholm: Stockholm Environment Institute. Available at: https://www.sei.org/features/five-lessons-from-past-mining-closures/.

2: Co-create an inspiring vision

Develop a joint, inspiring vision of how a sustainable future will look, focusing on the improvements and quality of life it will bring. Research shows that jointly developed visions can create transformational changes in society. While positive narratives about the future can spark action and engagement, the absence of a vision or the presence of negative scenarios can lead to apathy or anxiety.

Jensen, C.L., Oldin, F. & Andersen, G. (2022). Imagining and co-creating futures of sustainable consumption and society. Consumption and Society, 1(2), 336-357. https://doi.org/10.1332/XQUM7064.

Invite communities, civil society associations, social partners and other stakeholders to participate in crafting the vision. Focus on engaging vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups (see the “Engage people” section). Engaging in a vision-creating process can give people, especially young people, new hope that climate goals can be achieved. It is important to define a vision that is realistic, as setting achievable goals helps build trust.

Lind, A. (2023). Nordic visions of climate neutrality, Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers. Available at: https://www.norden.org/en/publication/nordic-visions-climate-neutrality.

The vision can serve as a key tool to secure commitment and explain how green transition policies and initiatives contribute to a larger goal. It can also remind people how their daily activities are connected to the broader ambition and how they can help to make a change.

Salonen, H. (2024). Between hand-outs and stand-outs: Opportunities for policy support for just green transitions. Nordregio policy brief 2024:1. Stockholm: Nordregio. Available at: https://nordregio.org/publications/between-hand-outs-and-stand-outs-opportunities-for-policy-support-for-just-green-transitions/.

Make sure that people, and not just young people, believe that we can change the way the world is moving. That there is hope!
- Youth representative

3: Use the vision to inspire action

Communicate the multiple benefits of the green transition and use the joint vision to motivate policies and initiatives. Research shows that transparent communication on how climate policies work, their efficiency and how they protect vulnerable groups are important factors when it comes to generating support for climate policies.

Dabla-Norris, E., Helbling, T., Khalid, S., Khan, H., Magistretti, G., Sollaci, A. & Srinivasan, K. (2023). Public perceptions of climate mitigation policies: Evidence from cross-country surveys. IMF Staff Discussion Notes (SDNs) SDN/2023/002. Available at: https://www.imf.org/media/Files/Publications/SDN/2023/English/SDNEA2023002.ashx; Dechezleprêtre, A., Fabre, A., Kruse, T., Planterose, B., Sanchez Chico, A. & Stantcheva, S. (2022). Fighting climate change. International attitudes toward climate policies. NBER Working paper 30265. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Available at: w30265.pdf (nber.org).

Stress the fact that the estimated damage to society from unmitigated climate change far outweighs the costs of the green transition. Delaying the green transition is therefore not a viable option.

OECD. (2017). Investing in climate, investing in growth. Paris: OECD Publishing; Atteridge, A. & Strambo, C. (2020). Seven principles to realize a just transition to a low-carbon economy. Stockholm: Stockholm Environment Institute. Available at: https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/seven-principles-for-a-just-transition.pdf.

It can be costly to implement policies and measures, but the cost of not doing so is way higher, and I think people tend to forget that.
- Youth representative