This Element provides a historical and analytical examination of just transitions that places them within the political economy.

Just transition prompts us to explore a number of important dimensions of Earth System Governance research, including sustainability transformations, inequality, power and justice. This Element aims to place just transition in the dynamics of the world political economy over the last several decades and to offer an overview of the varieties of just transitions based on an analytical scheme that focuses on their breadth (coverage), depth (social and ecological priorities) and ambition. The focus on breadth, depth and ambition centers on power, inequality and injustice and allows us to analyze and compare just transitions as a prerequisite for their fuller interpretation.