As governments and corporations the world over join the race to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, let’s make sure we don’t leave anyone behind.

Research from the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices shows strong linkages between achieving economic growth and meeting environmental and social objectives. This makes it difficult—if not impossible—to have sustained progress in any one of these areas without targeting all three.

The term ‘just transition’ was born in the labour movement in the 90’s. It was initially designed to support workers who lost their jobs due to environmental policies. Over time, ‘just transition’ took on a broader meaning: a transition to environmentally and socially sustainable jobs, sectors and economies in the face of the climate crisis.

In the past few years, support for the just transition has grown beyond its union roots to include international leaders, governments, corporations, and investors. In 2015, the International Labour Organization published guidelines for a just transition, and the Paris Agreement cited a just transition as “imperative.” In 2020, the Climate Action 100+, which brings together over 500 global investors with over US$47 trillion in assets, included the just transition as one of 10 indicators in its Net-Zero Company Benchmark.

This momentum is encouraging, but we still have work to do. The Canada’s Net Zero Future report by the Institute for Climate Choices found that the contribution to energy use in Canada from fossil fuels will either fall dramatically on the path to net zero, or a significant transformation in how we produce and use energy from fossil fuels—both at home and abroad—will have to occur. Oil and gas have historically been a significant source of employment in this country, with over 175,000 Canadians currently employed by the industry. We can’t let this talent fall through the cracks as we transform our energy systems.

The oil and gas sectors are also major drivers of the Canadian economy, contributing $105 billion to our GDP in 2020. The reality today is that this wealth is not shared equally by all Canadians. Women, people of colour, and Indigenous peoples are underemployed in the current energy sector. These same demographics will likely be disproportionately affected by climate change.

The world’s poor (the majority of which are women) suffer the most from extreme weather events. Black and Hispanic Americans are exposed to more air pollution than white Americans. Indigenous peoples the world over are particularly at risk to the consequences of climate change due to their close relationships with natural resources.

The just transition is our chance to ensure the current high quality of life enjoyed by many Canadians is preserved and passed on to future generations. It’s also a chance to open the tent, to set historical inequalities right, and to build a future where everyone benefits.

This is why it’s so important to the GLOBE Series team that our GLOBE Capital virtual conference be a big tent. Only by bringing diverse perspectives together around our most challenging questions can we develop solutions that meet our economic, environmental and social goals. GLOBE Capital will tackle the biggest questions we need to answer to scale the clean economy:

• How will governments and corporations achieve their net-zero-by-2050 targets?
• How can we ensure this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to press the ‘reset’ button on our investment priorities takes us from economic recovery to community resilience?
• And of course, how can we ensure no one is left behind in the transition to a net-zero future?

To attain real progress on these issues, we need all voices at the table—executives, Indigenous leaders, policymakers, and innovators.

The International Labour Organization describes the just transition as a bridge from where we are today to a future where all jobs are green and decent, poverty is eradicated, and communities are thriving and resilient.

If we work together, we might just be able to make this vision a reality.

The post The just transition: Building a net-zero future where no one’s left behind appeared first on Corporate Knights.

Federal stimulus funding is a massive opportunity to address energy efficiency shortfalls in our current, taxpayer-owned buildings. Investing in these small-to-medium sized renewal and expansion projects can create jobs for the greatest number of construction companies in Canada, while simultaneously improving our environmental footprint and leaving a positive social impact.

It’s good government policy to invest in infrastructure in Canada. For the most part, Canadians expect this as an approach most relevant in the face of an economic downturn. In the past, governments have focused stimulus with an eye on job creation. In 2020 and beyond, we need to focus efforts on what kind of jobs are being created and who we are putting to work. If governments are committing billions of dollars, we need to be generating economic, environmental and social benefits.

One may assume that the best way to stimulate the economy through infrastructure spending would be to hit ‘go’ on mega-projects like a new public transit line, bridges, and the packaging of projects like this into a larger initiative such as Toronto’s $11 billion Ontario Line Transit Expansion project. This is  an important project for the long-term benefit of the city, the biggest infrastructure project on the books in Ontario, but we must not lose sight on how stimulus funds can make the greatest impact in the immediate future with long-term gains.

According to Natural Resources Canada, greenhouse gas emissions from the built-environment account for 17 per cent of Canada’s overall emissions. There is an overabundance of 1980’s era buildings owned by taxpayer funded entities. Many of those buildings are large emitters that are contributing heavily to the climate crisis; they are structurally sound but have failed exteriors and mechanical systems that are at the end of their lifecycle. These upgrades can be replaced while the building is occupied, meaning this work can proceed very quickly, especially if the building’s use does not change. It also gives owners a chance to modernize interior space configurations at the same time to improve the health, productivity and efficiency of workers.

These projects also support keeping stimulus funds local. According to the Canadian Construction Association, 70 per cent of the construction industry consists of small and medium-sized enterprises. The average company is family-owned with less than a hundred employees. This means that most of the industry is not equipped to build mega-sized infrastructure projects.

If project contract values are too large, most of the construction industry will be excluded. This will result in tremendous concentration of benefits that will diminish the Canadian economic and employment multiplier of the infrastructure investment in the first place. If funding is directed to an average project size of $10 to $50 million, they can be managed by these typical-sized trades companies. This allows the broadest segment of the Canadian construction industry to participate in stimulus projects, spreading dollars around Canadian society as opposed to concentrating the wealth.

Let me offer a few examples. Think about getting a 1970’s era fire hall retrofitted to be net zero. Imagine a 40-year-old library falling into disrepair being reimagined as a community centre with a library, a hockey rink and pool.

Aging buildings can negatively impact the health of people within them, what if a not-for-profit seniors housing operator could apply for a grant to upgrade a mechanical system that would lead to an improved quality of life for the seniors living in their facilities? I imagine how we could transition Indigenous-infrastructure beyond pieced-together facilities to contribute to reconciliation.

As we look at awarding stimulus funding to projects, governments need to make social procurement—at no premium capital cost—a significant selection criterion. Contractors should look like the society they operate in, and funding criteria for stimulus projects has a chance to influence that.

There is no denying the construction industry has a labour crisis. When was the last time you heard a 13-year-old talk about becoming a plumber? We have the chance to change this trend by hiring at risk youth, Indigenous peoples, women and new Canadians.

Business needs to be a force for good. You can hire anyone to for an entry-level position—office staff or labourers—for $19 an hour. But being thoughtful about who we are hiring and why can make a significant impact. Bringing aboard a young adult working two minimum wage jobs to provide for a brother or a sister because a parent isn’t around can lead to a lifetime of opportunity. Putting them through an apprenticeship program can take them even farther.

Our industry can reverse a potential path towards crime and poverty by giving people a chance. This reduces strain on the social system and creates local jobs. And it costs us nothing to do this because we need to hire people where limited experience is required anyway.

What we get in return is a highly motivated and loyal workforce. We also develop a more diverse talent pool that is desperately needed in an industry which has suffered from decreasing enrollment and, in many instances, social stigma. It also creates mid-to-high earning taxpayers as doors open to larger opportunities for these team members.

We need stimulus funding to have the greatest impact economically, environmentally and socially.

The opportunities from investments of this magnitude require us to be more thoughtful about what and how we build. Building retrofits has huge potential, specifically in expanding existing provincial and municipal programs to enhance energy efficiency and climate resiliency. This can be a big win—for our economy, the environment, Canadian contractors and the communities they operate in.

Tim Coldwell is President of Chandos Construction Ltd. the largest B-Corp Certified commercial builder in North America. They are a national construction company interested in doing social good at scale.

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