Rally at the Treasury: Demand the Government Fund a Just Transition

On the morning of October 9th, climate groups from across the UK - joined by trade unions - will rally outside of the Treasury to hand in an open letter, calling on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to commit to a ring-fenced just transition funding package for oil and gas workers and their communities ahead of the Autumn budget. You can read and sign the open letter here.

We will have speakers from across the union and climate movement, all demanding the new government fund a just energy transition that protects workers and communities. The open letter and rally will be endorsed and supported by major unions including Unite the Union and PCS.

Join us to show support, make your voice heard and demand a funded, fast and fair transition.

Why now?

This couldn’t be more urgent. The transition away from oil and gas in the North Sea is already happening. Jobs supported by the oil and gas industry in the UK have more than halved over the past decade, with some 227,000 jobs lost since 2013.

For too long successive Governments have relied on the market and industry bosses to deliver the energy transition. Shareholder profits are prioritised over affordable energy, adequate public investment and job creation.

The ongoing closures of Grangemouth Oil Refinery and Port Talbot steelworks without plans to transition workers into secure green energy or green steel jobs are a damning indictment of this failed approach. Letting industry set the terms of the transition has not worked to protect the workforce.

Without a strategy to deliver a just transition, and the public investment to back it up, the government is risking the future of workers, communities and the planet. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

This Budget is the new Government’s opportunity to turn the tide and deliver a just energy transition. Help them make the right decision ahead of the Autumn Budget announcement at the end of October.

This event is being organised by Friends of the Earth Scotland, Platform, Oil Change International, Greenpeace UK, Green New Deal Rising and #StopRosebank.