A just transition: supporting the shift to environmental sustainability
Al Global Government Forum le complace poder ofrecer una interpretación simultánea de este seminario virtual en español e italiano.
Il Global Government Forum è lieto di offrirti il servizio di interpretazione simultanea in tempo reale di questo webinar in spagnolo e in italiano.
Global Government Forum are pleased to be able to offer real-time simultaneous interpretation of this webinar into Spanish and Italian.
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To maintain economic growth in a more sustainable world, countries will have to develop their environmentally-friendly industries – supporting sectors such as renewable power generation, electric vehicle manufacturing and domestic insulation. But this is only half of the task: it’s just as important to assist traditional industries – and, crucially, their workforces and communities – to transition into a low-carbon future.
When governments neglect this work, they can face a potent alliance of legacy industry companies, specialist workforces and local communities – all of them fearful that environmental policies will destroy their incomes. So governments must protect citizens and businesses through the shift to a sustainable economy, developing and implementing a range of dedicated policies and services.
Sometimes, this work involves promoting the technologies required to decarbonise traditional industries – capturing and sequestering carbon emissions, for example. Sometimes it means ensuring that unviable, carbon-intensive activities are replaced by new businesses, averting deindustralisation. Sometimes it requires new education and training programmes, reskilling the workforce; sometimes infrastructure investments to attract specialist investors. Sometimes it’s all of these at once – but there’s always one goal: to minimise the number who lose out as economies are decarbonised.
At this Global Government Forum webinar, a panel of experts from inside and outside government explored the issues around managing a ‘just transition’ – sketching out the policies, services and resources that can help make decarbonisation not only environmentally, but also socially and politically sustainable.
Panel
Samantha Smith, Director, Just Transition Centre
Smith is the director of the Just Transition Centre, working for a just transition for workers and communities. The Centre was established by the International Trade Union Confederation and partners to help unions and their allies get good plans for just transition at all levels.
Previously Sam was the global climate and energy leader for WWF, the world’s largest conservation organization. She also served as the Director of WWF’s Arctic Programme, working with communities, indigenous peoples organizations, and government.
Sam has held senior roles within the New Energy division of Statoil in Norway, leading teams on CO2 projects as well as commercial management of large-scale renewable energy projects
Sam started her career as a corporate litigation attorney specializing in finance in the United States. She received multiple awards for rights-based pro bono work on racial justice, reproductive rights and poverty. Sam has degrees in history and law from the University of California, Berkeley.
Sarah Colenbrander, Director, Climate and Sustainability programmme, Overseas Development Institute
Sarah is the director of the climate and sustainability programme at ODI, a leading global affairs think tank. She is an environmental economist who has supported policy-makers across Asia, Africa and Latin America to develop low-carbon development strategies. Sarah works primarily on low-carbon cities, sustainable finance and just transitions.
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Sabrina Muller, Policy Analyst, Sustainable Finance, Grantham Research Institute, LSE
Sabrina is a Policy Analyst at the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics, working on sustainable finance policy with a particular focus on the just transition in both developed and developing countries. A key strand of her work is the coordination of the UK’s Financing a Just Transition Alliance.
In her previous role, Sabrina was a Credit Analyst at Fitch Ratings where she was responsible for a portfolio of credit ratings in the infrastructure sector, and contributed to the implementation of Fitch’s ESG Relevance Scores. Sabrina also worked at the WWF and the GIZ in their respective sustainable finance teams.
Louise Cord, Global Director, Social Sustainability and Inclusion, World Bank
Louise Cord is the Global Director for Social Sustainability and Inclusion in the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Practice Group.
Previously, Ms. Cord was the Country Director for Senegal, Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Mauritania, based in Dakar, Senegal. Prior to her appointment as Country Director, she was Practice Manager in the Poverty Global Practice responsible for Latin America and the Caribbean, where she also covered gender equality. A U.S. national, she joined the Bank in 1991 as a Young Professional in the Bank’s Young Professional Program. She has since held various positions in the World Bank’s poverty reduction and sustainable development departments, working specifically on inclusive growth, poverty reduction, and rural development. She has worked in Africa, Latin America, and Eastern and Central Europe.
Ms. Cord holds a Ph.D. in development economics from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University
Bernhard Lorentz, Managing Partner and Global Leader, Climate Strategy, Deloitte
Bernhard Lorentz is a Managing Partner and the Global Leader Climate Strategy at Deloitte. He has dedicated his career over the past three decades to two major goals: Decarbonization of industries and improvement of the quality of public service. As president of one of Germany’s largest private foundations, he demonstrated the impact strategic philanthropy can have on important policy reform processes. He has been the Managing Partner Markets at EY for the Europe West region and Founder and Leader of EYCarbon. Prior to joining Deloitte, Bernhard Lorentz was Managing Partner at the Climate Neutrality Foundation, showing how a rapid industry transformation can succeed. Drawing from his experiences, he accompanies the European industry on its way to a climate-neutral world.
Webinar chair: Siobhan Benita, former UK senior civil servant
Siobhan Benita was a senior civil servant with over 15 years’ Whitehall experience. She worked in many of the major delivery departments, including Transport, Environment, Health and Local Government. She also had senior roles at the heart of Government in the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, including supporting the then Cabinet Secretary, Lord O’Donnell to lead work on Civil Service reform and strategy. Siobhan left the Civil Service to run as an independent candidate in the Mayor of London election. She subsequently joined her alma mater, Warwick University as Chief Strategy Officer of Warwick in London and Co-Director of the Warwick Policy Lab.
