Page 32 - Zenith 12호

32

These days, carbon neutrality is the hottest topic in the world. The concept of carbon neutrality is that the total
amount of carbon dioxide emitted shall be zero and it shall be absorbed as much as possible. Carbon neutrality is
a national challenge and we have to understand the "Just Transition" clearly, if it is to succeed because neutrality
can't be realized without "Just Transition". The "Just Transition" was introduced by OCAW (Oil, Chemical and

Atomic Workers International Union) and it was started with a campaign that the climate crisis would directly
affect worker's jobs, thus workers should understand what the climate crisis is and how to deal with it. After that,
ILO and UN conceptualized the "Just Transition" and made an international agreement on the climate crisis. The
"Just Transition" means that local residents or worker's disadvantage shall be minimized when industries become

carbon neutral.

There are many reasons why international organizations and governments of major developed countries pay
attention to the "Just Transition". The industrial conversion leads to lots of job being lost or replaced, thus they

have to educate or train lots of workers who lost their job and feed the local economy. The other is that industrial
conversion creates new jobs as well as lost jobs, thus the industries have to cooperate to create new good jobs for
labor and it will reinforce national competitiveness.