The accelerating climate and ecological crises call for rapid action. However, policy progress is much slower than needed, among other reasons because some voters fear that policies, which address climate change, have negative or unfair impacts on their lives. Considering social and fairness implications of climate action is important to avoid widening inequalities and public opposition. The just transitions and sustainable welfare / eco-social policy literatures examine how a closer alignment of climate policies with social and labour market policies could generate fairer outcomes and greater public acceptance, and how welfare systems need to adapt given the urgency of tackling the climate and ecological crises. However, while these literatures share certain concerns, they have developed largely separately from each other and adopted different perspectives. A comparison of their approaches is needed to develop a more comprehensive understanding and research agenda on social and justice issues related to climate policy.
In a recent study, which was published in Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, we compared perspectives on growth and capitalism, work and welfare, and global justice in the just transitions and sustainable welfare / eco-social policy literatures through a semi-systematic review. We chose these themes because they are central to positions on social issues and justice. They concern the foundational organisation of modern economies and societies, and thus shape how transformative climate strategies might be. We reviewed 108 conceptual just transitions publications and 79 sustainable welfare / eco-social policy publications.
Capitalism and economic growth
The just transitions literature largely focuses on transforming carbon-intensive sectors while protecting workers. Although many just transitions scholars critique current economic arrangements, only a minority of reviewed papers (~7%) explicitly call for overcoming capitalism or adopting post-growth approaches. Most contributions either avoid explicit engagement with capitalism or advocate “taming” it through stronger regulation, public ownership, industrial democracy, and improved labour standards. Many of the reviewed just transitions publications assume green growth and technological innovation can decouple emissions from GDP, emphasising job creation in renewable energy and low-carbon sectors.
In contrast, the sustainable welfare / eco-social policy literature engages more systematically with growth critiques. Nearly half of the reviewed sustainable welfare / eco-social policy publications explicitly support post-growth approaches, and about 20% argue that capitalism is structurally dependent on growth and therefore incompatible with ecological sustainability. Some of the more “mainstream” eco-social policy contributions do not directly advocate post-growth, but the sustainable welfare strand of this literature tends to advocate deeper systemic change.
Work and welfare
Given its origins in trade union movements, the just transitions literature focuses on the employment impacts of decarbonisation. It prioritises income replacement, retraining, job guarantees, and the creation of decent green jobs. Many authors emphasise the importance of union participation and democratic governance in transition processes. More recent contributions critique the narrow focus on waged labour, highlighting gender and racial inequalities and calling for broader recognition of unpaid and informal work. Some advocate working time reduction or decoupling income from employment.
The sustainable welfare / eco-social policy literature addresses a wider range of welfare domains beyond employment, including poverty, housing, health, pensions, and social protection against climate impacts. Eco-social policy proposals that have a more “mainstream” orientation focus on integrating social and climate policies – for example, compensating low-income households for carbon taxes or investing in green housing retrofits. Post-growth-oriented sustainable welfare scholars go further, proposing more transformative changes such as universal basic services, universal basic income, working time reduction, maximum and minimum income policies, wealth taxation, and alternative property forms. These policies aim to decouple welfare from economic growth and, in some cases, from paid employment.
Global justice
Both literatures acknowledge global inequalities in climate responsibility and impacts, but the just transitions literature provides more advanced analysis on this topic. It increasingly examines injustices embedded in global supply chains and green extractivism for green technologies in the Global South. It addresses colonial legacies, and calls for decolonial and reparative justice perspectives.
The sustainable welfare / eco-social literature, however, has predominantly focused on welfare states in the Global North. Although it recognises global justice principles – such as intergenerational and global needs satisfaction – it has engaged less directly with decolonisation, reparations, and structural North–South inequalities. This is a major gap requiring further research as shown in the Figure below.
Conclusion
We conclude that neither literature alone provides a fully comprehensive framework. The Figure below ‘maps’ where the just transition and sustainable welfare / eco-social policy literatures ‘sit’ in relation to the topics of economic growth, capitalism and global justice, and highlights some of the gaps within these respective literatures. For instance, just transitions scholarship would benefit from deeper engagement with post-growth debates, while sustainable welfare / eco-social policy scholarship should more thoroughly address global justice and decolonisation. Integrating the strengths of both approaches could support more transformative, equitable, and politically viable climate policies that align ecological sustainability with social justice.
Access the full article in Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change below:
The full article may be cited as:
Büchs, M., Trappmann, V., Moran G., Koch, M., 2026. Perspectives on Social and Justice Issues in Climate Policy – Comparing the Just Transitions, Sustainable Welfare and Eco-Social Policy Literatures. WIREs Climate Change 17(1): e70041. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.70041