Petrochemical Degrowth, Decarbonization, and Just Transformations
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Published:September 2023
This chapter argues that proposals for decarbonisation, degrowth, and just transitions should be connected in struggles for just petrochemical transformations. Decarbonization offers an important dominant policy lever for downscaling the toxic petrochemical industry, but there are risks of the corporate co-optation of green “solutions.” The analysis focuses on the case of Grangemouth in Scotland, where the industry faces government pressure to decarbonize, and residents have started to question their town’s dependence on fossil fuels amid wide gaps between local deprivation and industry profits. Rather than considering the need for just transitions only after the loss of industrial jobs, visions for just petrochemical transformations need to be more proactive, speaking to wider degrowth themes of well-being, and prosperity without extractive growth.