Going Beyond Carbon? Start with Equity.

The dialogue at the ‘Beyond Carbon Tunnel Vision’ session at Confluence Philanthropy’s 13^th Annual Practitioners Gathering made one thing very clear – to properly address the full scope of climate change impacts, we also need to understand it as a social and economic issue, with profound implications for human well-being and social justice.

It is well documented that climate change will hit the poorest and most vulnerable communities the hardest, exacerbating existing inequalities and injustices. One such vulnerable region is that of Bangladesh, a country that is facing the devastating effects of sea level rise due to climate change. The country is located on the Bay of Bengal, and more than 80% of its land area is flood-prone, threatening to displace millions of people in the coming decades – leading in turn to loss of livelihoods, and increased poverty, particularly for those living in coastal areas.

While economies of the world continue to develop largely based on energy sources that are contributing to the crises rather than solving for them the writing is on the wall – we need to think beyond carbon and develop policies and solutions that are equitable, just, and inclusive. Only by centering equity into the climate agenda will we see the necessary support and will to tackle it.

Just Transition is the critical pathway to do just this. The term originates in the labor movement and is used to describe the process of ensuring that the shift towards sustainable practices is equitable and inclusive, leaving no one behind. There has been a spate of government-led efforts towards just transitions in recent years, all encouraging and steering in the right direction. To name a couple:

• In 2020, the German government announced a €40 billion investment in climate and energy policies, aimed at achieving a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The plan includes funding for renewable energy projects, energy efficiency upgrades, and job creation in the clean energy sector. The government is also providing financial support for workers in high-carbon industries to transition to new jobs in the clean energy sector.

• The Scottish Just Transition Commission is a government-led partnership that was established to provide advice and guidance on how to ensure a fair and equitable transition to a net-zero economy in Scotland. The commission includes representatives from trade unions, environmental organizations, and businesses, and it aims to support workers and communities who are most affected by the transition.

Governments are not alone in these efforts and philanthropy is also stepping up, including at local levels. The Appalachia Funders Network brings together philanthropic organizations and community groups in the Appalachian region of the United States to support a just transition away from coal mining towards a more sustainable economy. The partnership provides funding for projects that create new job opportunities in clean energy and support the development of local businesses.

And globally, foundations like my own, Laudes Foundation, are driving funding into just transition initiatives across sectors and through finance and policy, including supporting critical work with labor unions through the ITUC’s Just Transition Center, multi-stakeholder alignment through the work of the Institute for Human Rights and Business, and deep research and coalition-building on the impacts of climate change in particular sectors and regions, including the apparel sector in Bangladesh, through the likes of ground-breaking work of Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute mapping data on factories of production with climate risk data.

If I were to leave you with one thought, it would be this: equity is critical to driving meaningful climate action. For us to address the urgent crisis before us, we must seek to understand and act on the impacts felt by communities around the world who are at the face of the crisis. Through their inclusion and through ensuring their protection and support, we can deliver the climate action that we so desperately need.