Article 2
Twin transition - towards a sustainable and digital future
Today's European economy is facing profound transformations driven by two forces: ecological transformation, linked to the need for decarbonisation, and digitalisation. These processes, referred to as the twin transition, aim to create a more sustainable and competitive economy. What exactly is the twin transition and what are its main objectives and how are they implemented in practice? The project 'GTC - Growth through transformational changes in the industrial sector influenced by the EU Green Deal and digitisation and proactive participation of workers in restructuring the changing working environment' addresses these questions. Its aim is to foster the exchange of experience and knowledge between workers, trade unions and employers in the context of the twin transition (green and digital) in the industrial sector in 7 partner countries, including Poland, Slovakia, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania and Spain.
What is a twin transition?
The twin transition is the process of simultaneously moving towards a low-carbon and digital economy. This means that countries and companies need to make efforts to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and implement innovative technological solutions. At the EU policy level, there are two separate sets of strategies dedicated to decarbonisation and digitalisation, which, when combined, can have a twin transition effect: European Green Deal and digitalisation policies, including the European Digital Strategy 2020-2025.
The European Green Deal is Europe's strategy for sustainable growth. It is a package of policy initiatives designed to enable European citizens and businesses to benefit from a sustainable environmental transition, to achieve the goal of no net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in the EU and to decouple economic growth from resource use. The idea is to create new sustainable jobs and decarbonisation is to halt climate change and improve quality of life by creating a more sustainable and safe environment. The European Green Deal includes an action plan to enable a more efficient use of resources by moving towards a clean, circular economy, as well as preventing biodiversity loss and reducing pollution. The action plan identifies the necessary investments and the financial tools available to implement them. It also explains how to ensure a fair and inclusive transition. By setting ambitious climate and economic targets, the European Union pledges to provide financial support and technical assistance to those most affected by the transition to a green economy. This will be done through the Just Transition Mechanism. It will provide €100 billion to the most affected regions between 2021 and 2027.
In response to the way digital technology is transforming the lives of EU citizens, one of the European Commission's priorities for 2019-2024 is to create a Europe for the digital age, leading the transformation towards a healthy planet and a new digital world through the European Digital Strategy 2020-2025. It aims to empower people through next-generation technologies, helping to support a 'just transition' towards a climate-neutral Europe through the European Green Deal.
In the GTC project, we conducted research in seven countries to investigate what challenges companies and their employees face in the context of the twin transition. You can read about the results of this research in the next articles.
The materials of the project and the course are available at the following link: https://decentwork.msnzzpcmc.pl/en/course
