On March 12, thousands of people in 50 communities across Canada took action for a just energy transition. In Moncton, about 50 people rallied a few days later, on March 19 due to a weather delay, at the office of Liberal MP Ginette Petitpas Taylor. Petitpas Taylor did not attend the rally. After the rally, rally goers send her a letter demanding immediate action to enact Just Transition legislation.
A month ago, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued the bleakest warning yet on the impacts of climate breakdown. The window of opportunity for action is narrow and rapidly closing. Scientists say we must drastically lower global greenhouse gas emissions to avert irreversible climate disaster. Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, summarized the findings in three words: “Delay is death.”
The report also emphasizes that a climate-resilient world cannot be achieved without climate justice. Fundamental changes to how society functions, including underlying values, social structures and political and economic systems are needed.
The organizers of just transition are demanding that we build back better as we recover from unprecedented climate disasters and the pandemic and its accompanying social and economic crises. They say climate-resilient development offers ways to drive the change needed to improve wellbeing for all.
A Just Transition has three pillars:
- A Just Transition will accelerate the transition to 100% renewable energy while creating millions of good, green jobs for anyone who wants one, and ensuring that nobody is left behind.
- A Just Transition will provide the support needed by those disproportionately impacted by climate change and the energy transition, including Indigenous, rural and northern communities and groups based on gender, ethnicity, disability, age and income.
- A Just Transition must move at the pace and scale that the climate emergency demands. Greenhouse gas emissions must peak within the next four years and then reverse sharply. At a minimum, that means a moratorium on all fossil fuel expansion, including freezing fossil fuel projects currently under construction.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first promised a Just Transition Act nearly three years ago. Seeing no meaningful government action to make it happen, 350 Canada (part of 350.org, a global grassroots organization aimed at action on the climate crisis), organized the national day of action for a just transition to a green economy.
Nearly three years after promising a Just Transition Act and two days before Canadians gathered across the country in a widespread show of support for a just transition, the federal government launched consultations on the proposed Just Transition Act.
Doug Swain is an organizer and volunteer with Extinction Rebellion New Brunswick, 350.org and LeadNow. He holds a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of British Columbia. He recently retired after 30 years as a research scientist with the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans at the Gulf Fisheries Centre in Moncton.
