Climate is a Jobs Issue: How Cities Are Leading the Way

In the global transition away from fossil fuels to a world fueled by renewable energy, new green industries and job opportunities are emerging. As new jobs in sustainable sectors continue to grow, employment opportunities linked to fossil fuels will diminish – which is why the energy transition must have equity at its core. A just transition is a vision for a greener, healthier, and more prosperous future for everyone, where no one is left behind. In this episode, host David Miller speaks to three guests: Jim Stanford is a Canadian labor economist who has been a leading voice in making fair and green jobs work over the last 20 years; Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix, Arizona, is leading her city to meet its goal to become the most sustainable desert city in the United States; and Is’haaq Akoon is a city leader from Ekurhuleni, South Africa, who is leading on a City Just Transition Commission to address these issues at an urban level.

Featured in this episode: A Just Transition: How to Make Action on Climate Change Fair and Inclusive in conversation with then International Trade Union Confederation General Secretary, Sharan Burrow, https://www.adb.org/news/videos/just-transition-how-make-action-climate-change-fair-and-inclusive-adb-insight-full

Featured guests:
Jim Stanford is a Canadian economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work. Jim is the Harold Innis Industry Professor in Economics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and an Honorary Professor in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney. Jim has written, edited or co-edited seven books, and dozens of articles and reports in both peer-reviewed and popular outlets. Jim’s article, “Cities can lead the energy employment transition… but they must plan for it”, has been published as an advance access article online and will be featured in the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy volume 2, issue 1 in 2023.

Mayor Kate Gallego is the second elected female mayor in Phoenix’s history, and the youngest big city mayor in the United States. She graduated from Harvard University and earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Mayor Gallego has focused on three key policy areas during her time in office: diversifying the economy, strengthening infrastructure investment, and working to make Phoenix a leader in sustainability. Mayor Gallego is passionate about building a Phoenix that works for everyone and increasing the quality of life for all residents.

Is’haaq Akoon has been a dedicated employee of the City of Ekurhuleni since 2008. He currently holds the office of Senior Manager Climate Change and currently heads the City of Ekurhuleni - Resilience Forum, where all projects and programmes are discussed to ensure tha

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Peggy Whitfield and Chiara Morfeo.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/