The idea of a ‘Green New Deal’ has gained traction, particularly as we look to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, to capture the scale of opportunity in green sectors. This has the potential to support recovery, develop new skills and employment opportunities, and reduce carbon emissions and environmental degradation.

As hosts of this year’s United Nations COP26 summit, Glasgow has been recognised for its local leadership in the delivery of a just transition. Its approach focuses on putting communities first in a drive to secure good jobs and opportunities for residents in addressing the climate emergency, informed by the memories and legacies of the city’s post-industrial past. For the second workshop in the IGN’s Green Growth series, Glasgow City Council’s Green Economy Manager Kit England joined to tell us more.

Key Learnings:

Glasgow is taking steps to combine the twin goals of the Green New Deal, securing economic and climate justice together, to create a decarbonised and resilient local economy that everybody can participate in and contribute to. There are three strands of work to take forward the Green New Deal with just transition considerations cutting across each:

• Co-design: designing the Green New Deal in a way which hears the voices of those most vulnerable to the transition.
• Innovation, Market Making and Skills: ensuring that people are able to realise new opportunities and have the skills associated to participate in the transition.
• Finance: making sure that the least well off don’t pay disproportionately for the costs of the transition.

Resources:

Kit England, Glasgow City Council’s Green Economy Manager, presented on the city’s Green New Deal, which seeks to ensure that the local transition to a carbon net zero economy is framed around an agenda for economic inclusion.