TRADE unions, climate activists and businesses have called on the next government to deliver a just and planned transition away from fossil fuels.

Just one week before the election more than 60 climate groups, including Greenpeace, Oxfam and Friends of the Earth, have joined unions RMT and Unite to sign an open letter to party leaders calling for a “clear and funded” transition plan for workers in the offshore oil and gas industry.

Building on a Friends of the Earth report published last year examining the aspirations of workers in the North Sea, the letter calls for expanded sectoral collective bargaining and a jobs guarantee, backed by funded retraining, as oil and gas production is phased out.

Calling for publicly owned energy, a more progressive tax system, and state investment in manufacturing, the letter read: “Industry bosses have been left to determine the terms of the decline, prioritising shareholder profits over affordable energy, green investment or job creation.

“The longer we wait to implement a worker-led just transition in the North Sea – and other high carbon industries – the worse off communities that rely on these industries will be.”

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch called the transition a “moral imperative,” but added: “As we move towards greener energy, it is crucial that the valuable skills and expertise of our members working in the oil and gas sector supply chain are not lost.”

Greenpeace UK’s Mel Evans said: “There is no such thing as climate justice without worker justice.”

In Aberdeen, capital of Britain’s oil and gas industry, Unite directed its just transition campaign “No Ban Without a Plan” at the Labour Party. The union delivered a letter signed by more than 200 local businesses, from post offices to butchers, calling for the party to ditch its policy of no new oil and gas licences.

North Sea oil and gas worker Kyle Griffiths branded the policy “an assault on our livelihoods and a threat to the stability of our families,” adding: “We demand a plan before any ban.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Until Labour has a concrete plan for replacing North Sea jobs and ensuring energy security, the ban on new oil and gas exploration licences should not go ahead.

“Labour must not allow oil and gas workers to become this generation’s coal miners.”