About the series

This three-part roundtable series, a partnership between Corporate Knights and the German and French Embassies in Canada as part of the Ottawa Climate Talks, is designed to shed light on the issue of energy justice (access and affordability) and labour force impacts and offer concrete examples of policies and actions to push and propel us towards not just a clean transition, but a clean and JUST transition.

Making the transition to clean energy requires an emergency response, today. The time for incremental approaches is over if we are to halt warming the planet in time to avoid the climate catastrophe that is only years away, not decades.



WATCH: Part One
How can the transition to clean energy help solve energy poverty in Canada?

Across Canada and in other OECD countries, many consumers and communities experience energy poverty wherein they don't have access to reliable and affordable energy sources for the basic necessities of life, like heating, cooling, and transportation. This session will explore the concept of energy poverty in the context of driving a just transition – what it is, where it happens, who experiences it, how the transition to clean energy can solve energy poverty – and offer examples of policies and actions that help to alleviate, reduce, and ultimately end energy poverty for individuals and communities, while pushing us toward a zero-carbon future.

Welcome:
Gerhard Schlaudraff
Deputy Head of Mission, German Embassy

Moderator:
Diana Fox Carney
Fellow, Balsillie School of International Affairs

Opening Address:
Dana Tizya-Tramm
Chief of Vuntut Gwich'in First Nation

Panelists:
Allison Ashcroft
Managing Director, CUSP

Veit Bürger
Deputy Head of Energy & Climate Division, Öko-Institut

Hélène Denise
Advocacy Officer, Fondation Abbé Pierre


WATCH: Part Two
How can the transition to clean energy provide opportunities for producers and workers?

The transition to clean energy as the primary source of energy in Canada will impact both consumers and suppliers. On the supply side, there are different impacts for different players that must be understood and planned for if a just transition is to be achieved. This session explores:

  • The policies/ policy ideas and actions to support displaced workers from the traditional energy sector, as well as engage people currently excluded from the labour market in emerging clean energy workforce opportunities
  • Energy producers and suppliers, considering the policies and actions needed to support the growth of new and emerging producers/suppliers of clean energy
  • Disruptors with the potential to develop and drive the adoption of new technologies to enable and force change among the small, medium and large energy producers and suppliers (including oil and gas)

Welcome:
Kareen Rispal
Ambassador of France in Canada

Moderator:
Diana Fox Carney
Fellow, Balsillie School of International Affairs

Panelists:
Thoren Albrecht
Director of Policy, IG Metall Vorstand

Catherine Bertram
General Manager, Mission Basin Minier

Matt Jamieson
President & Chief Executive Officer, Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation


WATCH: Part Three
Did COP26 advance climate justice?

Building on the foundation of the preceding two sessions, panelists reflect on the COP outcomes from a climate justice perspective and share their thoughts on the relationship between measures to ensure a just transition and our collective ability to achieve the Paris climate goals.

There are two sides to just transition. Globally, there is the question of who will foot the bill for required changes (both mitigation and climate adaptation) in developing countries as well as whether there will be any money available to compensate for climate damage. Domestically, to what extent do Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) seek to address issues of climate justice, without which there is likely to be significant backlash from affected communities?

Moderator:
Diana Fox Carney
Fellow, Balsillie School of International Affairs

Welcome: 
Gerhard Schlaudraff
Embassy of Germany in Canada

Frank Marchetti
Embassy of France in Canada

Speakers:
The Honourable Seamus O’Regan
Minister of Labour, Government of Canada

Regional Chief Kluane Adamek
Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief, Yukon Region and Lead on Climate Change and the Environment

Thomas Losse-Müller
Former State Secretary, Lead Candidate, SPD Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Emmanuelle Wargon
Minister Delegate to the Minister of Ecological Transition, in
charge of Housing, France

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Get the latest sustainable economy news delivered to your inbox.