Professor Dave Reay and Satwat Rehman have been appointed as co-chairs of Scotland’s Just Transition Commission, an independent advisory body advising on a fair move to a low-carbon economy.
They will succeed Professor Jim Skea, who led the Commission since its inception in 2019 but stepped down this month following his election to chair the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Professor Dave Reay will combine his new role as co-chair of the Commission with his work leading the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute and as Policy Director of ClimateXChange. Satwat Rehman is the Chief Executive of One Parent Families Scotland and has been a member of the Commission since 2022.
Advisory body
The independent expert advisory group advises the Scottish Government on how the country can achieve a carbon neutral economy fairly. It aims to make sure the benefits and burdens caused by major changes are shared as fairly as possible.
Members are drawn from industry, business and finance, trade unions, environmental and community groups, and academia. They provide expert scrutiny and advice on a series of just transition plans that cover different regions and sectors of Scotland’s economy.
The Commission aims to make sure the benefits and burdens of the major changes involved in Scotland’s net zero transition are shared as fairly as possible.
The Just Transition Commission’s remit is to scrutinise the development of just transition plans led by the Scottish Government; advise on the best approach to monitoring and evaluating a just transition; and engage with people most likely to be impacted by the transition.
Professor Dave Reay said: “It is such an honour to be asked to co-chair the Just Transition Commission. In the years since its inception it has been a guiding light for climate action locally, nationally and internationally too. As Scotland, and the whole world, faces increasingly stark choices on how to realise a fair and resilient transition to net zero, the Commission's work has never been more important.”
