Government approves membership of new Just Transition Commission

• Appointments will enable Commission to commence its work

The government today approved the appointment of members to the Just Transition Commission for an initial three-year term.

The Just Transition Commission will have a key role in advising and supporting the government to ensure that the move to a climate neutral economy is fair and benefits everyone. Key tasks facing the government in delivering a just climate transition include the need to maximise employment opportunities, and to support people and communities that may be most negatively affected by the transition away from fossil fuels, and to put engagement and sustainable community development at the heart of its approach.

Membership of the Just Transition Commission comprises nominees from the five pillars of social dialogue, together with independent experts with backgrounds in a range of areas relevant to the work of the Commission, including human rights and equality, skills development, rural and community development, social inclusion, the green economic transition, and youth perspectives.

The members of the Just Transition Commission are as follows:

• The Commission will be chaired by Ali Sheridan, Independent Expert
• Vanessa Kiely O’Connor (Agriculture Pillar)
• Michelle Murphy (Community and Voluntary Pillar)
• Conor Minogue (Employer Pillar)
• Oisín Coghlan (Environment Pillar)
• Ryan McKinney (Trade Union Pillar)
• Diarmuid Torney (Independent Expert)
• Evan Boyle (Independent Expert)
• Seamus Boland (Independent Expert)
• Suresh Kumar (Independent Expert)
• Tanya Ward (Independent Expert)

Welcoming the government's approval of the appointments, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, said:

Commenting, Ms Sheridan said:

ENDS

Membership of the Commission

Ali Sheridan – Chair

Ali has held a range of senior climate leadership roles and has supported the development and growth of climate programmes including at the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, IKEA, and Bord Bia, as well as previous roles with the Sustainable Agricultural Initiative and An Taisce. She has supported a diverse range of organisations and sectors to develop credible and just climate transition strategies, and is an occasional lecturer. Ali holds a MSc Business Sustainability, MSc Sustainable Development, and BSc Environmental Management. She sits on the Advisory Committee of the Environmental Protection Agency, the DCU Climate Advisory Board, and the Board of Common Knowledge.

Members

Conor Minogue

Conor Minogue is a senior policy executive in the business group Ibec. Since joining the organisation in 2012, Conor has held several policy roles. He now works with Ibec members to develop and promote the energy and climate policy agenda for Irish business. He also provides guidance to industry on climate action and sustainability reporting. He was the lead author of Ibec’s Climate Action Toolkit for Business and Ibec's 2019 Low Carbon Roadmap. Before Ibec, he worked at the EU Embassy in Washington DC. Conor studied history and international relations at University College Dublin (UCD), University of California Berkeley, and Cambridge University. He also holds an Advanced Diploma in Planning and Environmental Law from the King's Inns.

Dr Diarmuid Torney

Dr Diarmuid Torney is Director of the Dublin City University (DCU) Centre for Climate and Society and an Associate Professor in the School of Law and Government at DCU. His research focuses on climate change policy and governance. He is coordinator of a Horizon Europe project called RETOOL, aimed at strengthening democratic governance for climate transitions in Europe, and leads DCU's participation in the Research Ireland funded Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water. He is an independent expert member of the National Economic and Social Council and a member of the Executive Group of the All Island Climate and Biodiversity Research Network.

Dr Evan Boyle

Dr Evan Boyle is a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher with the MaREI Centre Energy, Climate and Marine co-ordinated by the Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork (UCC). His research focuses on community engagement for energy transitions and transdisciplinary approaches to sustainability. His work has implementing action research methods for co-creating climate action solutions with stakeholders beyond academia through involvement in a number of projects including Dingle Peninsula 2030 (2018-2021), Imaginging2050 (2018-2020), and STEPS (2022-2024), and has sought to inform policy on just and inclusive methods for achieving the energy transition.

Michelle Murphy

Michelle Murphy is a Research and Policy Analyst with Social Justice Ireland. She provides research, policy analysis and strategic engagement on sustainability, rural development and the impact of policy on income distribution and social inclusion. She has produced several pieces of social policy research on sustainability and just transition, including policy options to deliver on our climate targets through a Just Transition framework, the impact of Brexit on a just transition in rural communities in Ireland, the impact of our climate targets on regional development, and trends in income distribution, poverty and social inclusion.

Oisín Coghlan

Oisín Coghlan has been the chief executive of Friends of the Earth since 2005. He co-founded the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition in 2007 and led the 14-year campaign for a strong climate law, which culminated in the passing of the 2021 Climate Act. Oisín was one of the co-founders of the Environmental Pillar in 2009, the advocacy coalition of environmental NGOs and represented the Pillar on the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) from 2009 to 2016. He co-founded the Irish Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change in 2009 with Vodafone and Business in the Community, and the Just Transition Alliance with ICTU, SIPTU and FORSA in 2019. From 2019 to 2023 Oisín sat on the Steering Committee of Coalition 2023, the broad Irish civil-society coalition that champions government action to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Ryan McKinney

Ryan McKinney is currently Head of Strategic Change at Fórsa, Ireland’s second largest union. In this position he oversees an ambitious and diverse change programme, leads groundbreaking initiatives including a multi-million-euro investment in a bespoke membership system, designing and implementing internationally developed methodology to transform member participation and delivery on the union’s current strategic plan. Ryan has over 20 years' experience in industrial relations and campaigning having held senior roles in the trade union movement in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland.

Seamus Boland

Seamus Boland has expertise in rural and agricultural affairs with over 30 years’ experience working with communities and policy makers. As CEO of Irish Rural Link, he has helped build a national rural network of 600 community organisations. He was Chair of Pobal and served on the Board of the Wheel. Seamus is also a farmer who lives in the midlands. He is Chair of The Irish Peatlands Council, and chairs the government interdepartmental committee responsible for implementation of the Peatlands Strategy. He is in his second term as President of the Civil Society Organisations’ Group, (European Economic Social Council).

Suresh Kumar

Suresh Kumar is the Deputy Director for Innovation, Industrial Transformation for the Scottish Government and was previously the Chief Operating Officer for the Max Planck Research Society. Suresh is an experienced senior leader who worked across policy, strategy and operations in the Universities, Research and Innovation sectors focusing on, Capital Projects, Talent, Skills, Entrepreneurship and Job creation pathways and state of the art Industry-University infrastructure. He is an expert in public private partnerships, and a strategist in setting future directions for scientific/technological domains at national, European, and international levels in partnership with Business, Industry and SMEs.

Tanya Ward

Tanya Ward is the Chief Executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance. Previously, she was the Deputy Director at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and also worked with the Irish Centre for Migration Studies, the Irish Refugee Council and the Curriculum Development Unit. A former lecturer in human rights at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and the UCD School for Social Justice, she is a graduate from UCC and has a LLM in Human Rights from Queens University Belfast. Tanya has served on the boards of the International Federation of Human Rights, Mental Health Reform, the Law Centre for Children and Young People and is currently Vice President of Eurochild. She was Chair of the National Advisory Council for Children and Young People and is currently a member of the Programme Board on Senior Cycle Reform. Tanya was awarded the Excellence in Leadership Award in 2024.

Vanessa Kiely O'Connor

Vanessa Kiely O'Connor is a farmer from Innishannon, County Cork. She has graduated with a Diploma in Environmental Science and Social Policy and holds a Diploma in Corporate Direction (Food Business) from UCC. She also holds a Certificate in Business Strategy from UCD. Appointed as the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) representative to Teagasc and chairs Teagasc's Advisory and Education committee, she is a board director at Bandon Co-operative and also serves on the board of Clona Dairy Products. Vanessa is a member of the Women in Agriculture Stakeholder Group and is an Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) National Council member, previously serving on their Farm Business committee.

Just Transition Commission

In line with the approved Terms of Reference, the functions of the Just Transition Commission will be:

• To prepare and analyse strategic evidence-based research in relation to just transition: to anticipate and inform long-term climate policy and investment planning, including focusing on the potential impacts, risks and opportunities arising from the climate transition for different sectors of both the economy and society, including the social, economic and employment impacts of this change and the policy responses required
• To evaluate, advise, and comment on policy planning and implementation and progress on the application of Ireland’s just transition principles into national and sectoral climate policies, based on high-quality, evidence-based analysis
• To provide strategic advice and engagement on just transition: the Commission will support the National Dialogue on Climate Action, as well as any dialogues on climate/just transition matters within individual sectors, in engagement on the implementation of climate programmes agreed by government
• Sectoral or regional engagement and road-mapping: the Commission may, on its own initiative, or at the request of the government, undertake proactive engagement with particular communities, sectors or regions facing specific acute or long-term challenges arising from the transition, and advise government on strategic co-ordination by the agencies of the State, on any interventions or targeted supports which may be helpful to address the challenges being faced by that community, sector or region

In providing advice to the government on how Ireland should ensure no one is left behind while delivering on its climate ambitions, the new Commission will complement the existing role of the Climate Change Advisory Council. The statutory mandate of the Advisory Council is to advise the Minister and Government in relation to climate mitigation and adaptation policies necessary to meet Ireland's statutory National Climate Objective. The Commission will work closely with the Advisory Council to ensure there is no overlap in their respective mandates and work programmes.

You can read the full Terms of Reference on the Item was unpublished or removed

Just Transition Policy Framework

The government, through the Climate Action Plan, has adopted an overarching framework for policy development, which takes a principles-based approach to delivering a just transition in Ireland. This framework comprises four principles, to guide sectoral policy development and implementation, which align with the ILO Guidelines, UNFCCC and EU frameworks and recommendations, enabling their application across diverse sectors:

• An integrated, structured, and evidence-based approach to identify and plan our response to just transition requirements
• People are equipped with the right skills to be able to participate in and benefit from the future net zero economy
• The costs are shared so that the impact is equitable and existing inequalities are not exacerbated, and
• Social dialogue to ensure impacted citizens and communities are empowered and are core to the transition process

In line with the government's ambition that these principles be steadily mainstreamed into climate policy, key sectors are integrating these principles in the design of their respective policies and measures through the annual Climate Action Plan.