IMD-OWPLIVE22-PostEvent-Report

→Sustainability

ACTION POINTS

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Set long-term, science-based targets to reduce emissions and achieve net-zero.

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Make investments in cleaner forms of energy such as wind and solar. Focus financial investments on the energy needs of less developed areas and assist them to transit to the cleaner energy economy. Focus on job creation, skills development and retraining to support the green transition.

RECOMMENDED READING

Managing these impacts is at the heart of the just transition. It will requiremeasures such as long timelines that are clearly communicated and allowpeople and industries to adjust to active labor market policies, skills development and retraining, public sector policies for job creation, industrial policies for economic diversification, and support for community renewal. Businesses will have an important role to play in achieving a just transition. The first step is to

On top of this, businesses can provide jobs to support the just energy transition, given that employment in sectors such as coal is at risk. But the role of business is not only creating new jobs in the energy sector but also about moving people from regions dependent on fossil fuels, to areas where they have better renewable energy opportunities within the private sector.

increase the commitment of business to embrace the energy transition and promote the zero carbon economy. Beyond this, business innovation can help provide clean energy for all. Cleaner energymust be available to affluent and less economically developed sectors of society, such as by increasing the affordability and use of solar energy. The financial sector will play an important role in financing clean energy projects. In addition, fund managers and asset owners are

being pushed by regulators to embed sustainability throughout their businesses and consider the full spectrumof environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors whenmaking investment decisions. Suchmeasures are particularly important in supporting the energy transition needs of less developed economies by financing regional and local climate policies and the purchase of cleaner technologies.

SOUTH AFRICA’S JUST ENERGY TRANSITION PARTNERSHIP: A MODEL FOR CLIMATE FINANCING FOR AFRICA? (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, September 2022) JUST TRANSITION FOR ALL: THE WORLD BANK GROUP’S SUPPORT TO COUNTRIES TRANSITIONING AWAY FROM COAL (World Bank)

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