Establishing and Applying a Framework for Agricultural Just Transition: A Case Study of the Rice Production

Just Transition, as a critical concept balancing environmental sustainability and social equity, emphasizes achieving recognitional justice, procedural justice, and distributional justice during the low-carbon transition process. However, existing policies and research often overly focus on distributional justice, neglecting the identification of vulnerable groups and the assessment of their potential impacts. This study shifts the focus to recognitional justice, particularly on identifying potentially affected vulnerable groups and highlighting the impacts they may face, aiming to establish inclusive and equitable transition strategies.

This research integrates Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to examine greenhouse gas emission hotspots across the entire life cycle of crops, aiming to evaluate the challenges and impacts faced by stakeholders in the supply chain under net zero transition pathways. Based on a preliminary literature review, the study identifies the field sowing stage as the major greenhouse gas emission hotspot in the life cycle of crops. To address this issue, the research incorporates a review of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices and employs quantitative methods to evaluate the environmental and social impacts of adopting CSA on stakeholders. Using the rice supply chain as a case study, the research not only identifies the environmental benefits of low GHG agricultural practices but also explores the distribution of impacts among vulnerable groups and their adaptive strategies.

This study contributes by establishing a framework integrating Just Transition with Life Cycle Assessment, providing theoretical support and empirical insights for policy design and practical operations in agricultural sustainability transitions.