Virtual Climate Jobs and Just Transition Summit set for Sept. 22

Registration is open for the virtual Climate Jobs and Just Transition Summit, Sept. 22. Confirmed speakers include John Podesta, former White House chief of staff, Nobel Laureate Marilyn Brown, Bloomberg Philanthropies' Climate Lead Antha Williams and New York State Climate Policy and Finance Chair Ali Zaidi. 

The summit will bring together labor leaders, union climate activists, environmental and environmental justice advocates, clean-energy developers, policy makers and scientists who want to build the clean-energy economy of tomorrow with strong union jobs.

Convening during Climate Week NYC, the summit will feature keynote speakers, panelists and breakout session leaders from around the country and around the world. Sessions will include: “Combating Climate Change, Reversing Inequality,” “Climate Change, Racial Justice and Economic Justice,” “The Next Generation of Buildings: Best Practices for Energy Efficiency and Solar Retrofits” and more. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

“At a time that calls for public investment on a scale not seen since the Great Depression, let’s make sure that we’re investing in the economy of the future. Let’s make sure we take action at a scale climate science demands. Let’s make sure that we take on three crises at once: the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis, the climate crisis and the crisis of extreme inequality that cannot be ignored,” says Jeff Vockrodt, executive director, Climate Jobs NY and Climate Jobs Education Fund.  

Speakers will discuss ways that climate change and inequality are inextricably linked, dig into specific opportunities for bold climate action and building new industries, and engage in a holistic discussion about just transition for workers in fossil fuel industries and for their communities. 

Organizing sponsors for the summit are Climate Jobs NY, Climate Jobs NY Education Fund, The Worker Institute and the Lois Gray Labor Innovation Initiative at Cornell University’s ILR School, and the Climate Jobs National Resource Center.