Framing just transition: The case of sustainable food system transition in Finland

Justice in sustainability transitions requires states to design transition policies that ‘leave no-one behind’. Emphasising fairness, however, may entail slowing or scaling down the impetus of sustainability transition. To examine this risk empirically, we analysed how stakeholders frame justice in deliberating policy measures needed to support just transition in agricultural land use and dietary changes, the cornerstones of building healthier and climate friendlier food systems in Finland. The results show that justice frames focus on the potential impacts of transition, largely ignore global scale, and prioritise social justice claims at the cost of environmental ambition. To create just and environmentally effective policies, policymakers need to consider justice at the level of policy-mixes combining environmental and social policies. Furthermore, they need to acknowledge systemic injustices present in existing systems while striving towards just transition.