Climate change is, arguably, the most pressing issue of our time. Yet, international climate policy, which is mainly administered through the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is largely voluntary and not legally binding. The idea of a just transition, which began in the North American labour movement during the 1990s, has been proposed as an overarching strategy and policy to achieve net zero emissions in a timely manner. In essence, just transition refers to the idea of minimizing the adverse socioeconomic effects that climate policies, including transitioning to renewable forms of energy, may have on vulnerable groups and communities such as developing countries and fossil fuel dependent economies. This paper will use the concept of just transition to demonstrate that climate policy largely happens at the national and local levels by focusing on the transition policies operationalized by the UNFCCC, Canada’s federal government agencies, and the province of Nova Scotia. Using a combination of document analysis, semi-structured interviews with fossil fuel workers and key informants, and my personal experiences at the 29th Conference of Parties (COP) in Azerbaijan, this paper offers unique insight into how local, national, and international governing bodies are approaching the climate crisis through just transition efforts in different but intersecting ways. Without different scales, the just transition is at risk of being just talk.