A TRANSITION to a greener economy cannot happen without public ownership of energy and greater worker control in the industry, trade unionists have said. 

Representatives from unions and campaigners told a fringe meeting at Glasgow’s Cop26 climate summit yesterday that until energy production is under control, the climate will not be brought under control. 

The event was organised by Democratic Left Scotland (DLS), bringing together figures from the Scottish left and trade union movement. 

Speakers at the event included trade unionist Ulrike Eifler and DLS’s Stuart Fairweather. 

Energy experts told the meeting that while ambitions are getting bigger, the number of achievements being met lag behind. 

Trade Unions for Energy Democracy co-ordinator Sean Sweeney said that a planned energy transition was needed to meet climate targets. 

He said that it was important to outline a number of proposals to set out why public ownership of energy companies was important, not just for the climate, but also for workers.

STUC general secretary Roz Foyer echoed these calls, saying that the trade unions saw the need to redefine the economy. 

She said: “It’s not necessarily the need to support or compensate workers in particular industries. 

“It’s far deeper than that, taking a step back and taking a fundamental rethink about how our systems work, and how workers can democratise industrial systems, and have decent pay and conditions.” 

The need for any transition away from fossil fuels to not leave workers in the global South behind was also underlined. 

Katie Gallogly-Swan of Global Green New Deal said that a just transition vision will not necessarily close inequalities across societies, saying: “A just transition that only focuses on the national level of decarbonising could be a new recipe for maintaining the global asymmetry the world is riven by.”