The British Academy announces funding for international research projects examining "just transitions" within sectors and industries

Achieving just transitions in the forestry sector, exploring responsible extraction of metals for renewable energy and making space for dialogue on just transitions in Africa’s oil and gas producing regions – these are just some of the research subjects funded by the British Academy as part of its work around COP26.

The Academy’s "Just Transitions within Sectors and Industries Globally" programme provides UK and internationally-based researchers – at any career stage and active in the humanities and social sciences – with funding to pursue research focused on just transitions in sectors and industries globally.

Funded through the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), each award is worth up to £100,000 and will last for up to five months in duration. In total, the Academy has awarded over £750,000 to research teams based at universities in the UK and internationally.

Professor Simon Goldhill FBA, Foreign Secretary of the British Academy, said:

“If the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss is to be effective, sustainable and equitable, and if we are to safeguard all economies and societies, then facilitating just transitions to new ways of living is crucial. The research projects announced today will provide valuable insight into the action required in sectors and industries globally across supply and value chains. We wish the research teams every success and we look forward to seeing the fruits of their work.”

The full list of awards is:

• "Rare Earths in the Just Transition: Connecting Global Inequalities in REE Commodity Chains" – Dr Mandy Sadan, University of Warwick; Professor Dan Smyer Yu; The University of Cologne
• "Solar Energy, Modern Slavery and the Just Transition" – Professor James Cockayne, University of Nottingham; Dr Oana Burcu, University of Nottingham; Mr Siddarth Kara, University of Nottingham; Ms Kristina Michaelides, University of Nottingham; Dr Edgar Rodríguez-Huerta, University of Nottingham
• "The ‘Net’ in Net-zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Achieving Just Transitions in the Forestry Sector Through Climate Policy Integration and Learning" – Dr Katharina Rietig, Newcastle University; Dr Graham Long, Newcastle University
• "Wind Energy and the Just Transition: Political and Socio-economic Pinch Points in Wind Turbine Manufacturing and Windfarm Communities in Europe and South Africa" – Research Team: Dr Lisa Schulte, Middlesex University; Dr Sian Stephens, Middlesex University; Dr Charles Umney, University of Leeds
• "Just-in-Time Transition? Industrial Sustainability, Decent Work and the Production of Climatic Precarity in the Cambodian Garment Industry" – Dr Laurie Parsons, Royal Holloway, University of London; Mr Wim Conklin, Solidarity Center, Cambodia; Dr Sabina Lawreniuk, University of Nottingham; Dr Serey Sok, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• "Decarbonising and Diversifying Defence: A Workers’ Enquiry" – Dr Karen Bell, University of West England, Bristol; Dr Keith Mc Loughlin, University of Bristol; Professor Vivian Price, California State University; Dr Lara Skinner, Cornell University
• "Making Space for Dialogue on Just Transitions in Africa’s Oil and Gas Producing Regions" – Dr Alex Shankland, Institute of Development Studies; Dr Salvador Forquilha, Institute for Social and Economic Studies; Miss Victoria Ihuoma Ohaeri, Spaces for Change, Nigeria; Mr Amos Wemanya, Power Shift Africa
• "Just Transition: A New Framework for Responsible Extraction of Energy Transition Metals for the Renewable Energy Sector" – Dr Emilka Skrzypek, University of St Andrews; Dr Nicholas Bainton, University of Queensland; Dr John Burton, University of Queensland
• "Enabling a Just Transition in Automotive: Evidence from the West Midlands and South Australia" – Professor Alex De Ruyter, Birmingham City University; Dr Sally Weller, University of South Australia.