Planning & Supporting Transition, Not Delaying It, Best Way to Help Fossil Fuel Workers
New research by the Centre for Future Work, commissioned by industry super fund HESTA, finds that transitioning Australia’s labour market away from fossil fuel jobs would mean most workers leave the industry through retirement—avoiding involuntary layoffs or severe disruption to communities—if governments focus on a planned and fair transition including: a clear, long-term timeline, measures to facilitate inter-industry mobility and voluntary severance as fossil fuels are phased-out, and generous retraining and diversification policies.
Released following the UN Climate Ambition Summit (12 Dec), which made clear the need for Australia to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels, the report finds that trying to delay much-needed climate policy cannot protect the quantity or quality of fossil fuel jobs; to truly protect these workers and communities, pro-active transition planning must start now.
Key Findings
- With strong commitments to alternative employment creation (including, but not limited to, jobs in renewable energy projects), a transition away from fossil fuels can occur without involuntary layoffs or severe disruption to communities.
- Direct employment in fossil fuel industries is relatively small, just 1% of total Australian employment, and in any single year the overall economy produces twice as many new jobs, as are employed in total in fossil fuel industries.
- Health care and social services employ 13 times as many people as fossil fuels. At current rates, it would take just two years of new work in health care alone to fully offset all current jobs in fossil fuel industries.
- Fossil fuel jobs are especially important in some communities, but the number of such communities is small. In just 11 out of 250 Australian communities do fossil fuel jobs make up over 5% of local employment. Strong, focused supports, paid for by the country as a whole, can help those communities adapt to the coming change.
- Examples of previous transitions in other countries (including Germany, Canada, and Spain) confirm that fossil fuel sectors can be phased out with no involuntary redundancies.
Dr Jim Stanford, Economist and director of the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute:
“Following the UN Climate Ambition Summit this weekend, it is clear that Australia needs to do much more to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuel production and use,” said Dr Jim Stanford, economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work.
“The inevitable transition away from fossil fuel employment is hardly unprecedented. Acting as though it is unprecedented, or indeed not acting at all, only does a disservice to the very communities that would benefit most from a well-managed phase-out.
“In fact, if managed well, most people currently employed in the fossil fuel industry will not even need to find alternative work: as the industry gradually winds down, most will transition directly from fossil fuel work into retirement or other forms of voluntary severance.
“By announcing and planning the phase-out of fossil fuel jobs in advance, assisting workers with generous income supports, and with strong commitments to alternative employment creation, the transition away from fossil fuels can occur without damaging workers or their communities—at this stage however, the government is yet to offer any of those things.
“For the sake of fossil fuel workers, and the sake of the planet, the phase-out of fossil fuel production should assist workers with generous income supports and have strong commitments to alternative employment creation in other industries,” Dr Stanford said.
Mary Delahunty, HESTA Head of Impact:
“Investment back into a nation’s ‘caring economy’ – health, education and social services – is the most effective way to stimulate economic activity and creates higher-quality, more sustainable, long-term growth. This report demonstrates that with appropriate investment this can go even further, supporting a manageable, sustainable phase-out of fossil fuel jobs,” said Mary Delahunty, Head of Impact at HESTA.
“HESTA was the first major Australian super fund to commit to a total portfolio ‘net zero by 2050’ emissions target as part of our ambitious Climate Change Transition Plan. Supporting a planned transition is crucial to us achieving these ambitious goals and to protecting the long-term value of our members’ investments.
“Climate change presents a clear and undeniable financial risk to our members’ investments. How Australia, one of the most carbon-intensive OECD countries, transitions its economy will impact the financial future and wellbeing of HESTA members and all working Australians,” Delahunty said.
The report, Employment Aspects of the Transition from Fossil Fuels in Australia by Dr Jim Stanford, Economist and director at the Centre for Future Work, is attached or can be found at: https://www.futurework.org.au/
