“ The climate transition is expected to involve low- to medium-skilled jobs in manufacturing(for example, technicians and green-collar workers), or highly skilled occupations related to STEM subjects(for example, software and environmental engineers), which are characterised by low female representation. „ GENDER-INEQUALITY EFFECTS In addition, there are assumptions that the climate tran­sition will exacerbate gender imbalances. 17 On the one hand, because of gender occupational segregation, 18 women are under-represented in those sectors we ex­pect to be losing jobs through the low-carbon transition of the production process(manufacturing, construction). However, by the same token, we do not expect women to benefit from new job opportunities spurred by the climate transition. The climate transition is expected to involve low- to medium-skilled jobs in manufacturing(for example, technicians and green-collar workers), or highly skilled occupations related to STEM subjects(for exam­ple, software and environmental engineers), which are characterised by low female representation. 19 As a result, while the overall gender-specific impacts of the climate transition are hard to quantify in advance, it is neverthe­less important to check whether policies targeting the employment aspects of the climate transition integrate gender-equality concerns. This is of special interest as climate policies such as the European Green Deal, and even the concept of a just transition, have been found to be gender blind. 20 POLICY CHALLENGES: RECOVERY WATCH To summarise, the main challenge for policymakers is to design the climate transition in such a way that it complies with the principles of the just transition, by addressing pre­cariousness, gender differences and income disparities – particularly in the light of the pandemic, which exacer­bated inequalities. Therefore, it becomes more and more urgent to combine decarbonisation with pro-workers pol­icies meant to both ameliorate income distribution and maintain employment stability. At the same time, new opportunities of the green transition should be grasped by appropriate green industrial policies which might increase employment growth in new activities, potentially upgrad­ing working conditions and worker rights. This policy study examines if and how the NRRPs of Germany, Slovakia, Spain, Italy and Sweden include the following: • industrial policies converting dismissed industrial plants located in sacrifice zones into sustainable production activities. They are charac­terised by a labour-augmenting effect in the energy sector, such as the development, deployment and maintenance of renewable energy sources and green technologies, therefore creating new job op­portunities for the local community. • designed to maintain employment stabili­ty, limiting unemployment and income inequalities, such as reskilling and upskilling policies to allocate workers from brown to green sectors. For example, blue-collar workers who used to work in the supply value chain of the automotive sector being reskilled to be re-employed in the battery-manufacturing sector. • tackling gender inequality of the climate transition, overcoming gender barriers to women grasping employment opportunities. POLICY CHALLENGES AND POLICY ACTIONS FOR A JUST CLIMATE TRANSITION 11 FIVE RECOVERY PLANS IN COMPARISON