CONFERENCE: Labor in the Climate Transition: Charting the Roadmap for 2019 and Beyond

    UC Berkeley Labor Center

    The UC Berkeley Labor Center is hosting a conference on September 12, 2018, at the David Brower Center in downtown Berkeley, immediately prior to the start of the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco.

    Reason for conference:

    • California and the world must take major steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect our climate – but workers must be key beneficiaries also. The choice is clear: The green economy can produce good, family-supporting jobs with access for all, or it can worsen the overall economy’s yawning gap between the rich and low-wage gig workers.

    Our conference goals:

    • Identify and showcase the best practices in worker-friendly climate policy for 2019 and beyond – for California, other U.S. states, and international governments.
    • Highlight the importance of labor unions for building sustainable broad-based coalitions that can support strong climate policies at the state, national and international level.

    Event Schedule
    Topics and speakers have not yet been decided, but plenary and breakout session topics are likely to include the following:

    • California – Why has labor become a central part of the climate action coalition? What are the challenges to make California climate policies more labor friendly?
    • International best practices – what can we learn from Canada, Europe and elsewhere?
    • Manufacturing – How to leverage existing government programs for procurement and subsidies.
    • Cargo transportation – The revolution in automation, trucking, warehousing, ports.
    • Clean electricity – distributed energy, buildings energy efficiency, local vs. regional grid, EV charging infrastructure.
    • Service and public sector unions – Climate mitigation, adaptation and catastrophe response.
    • Just Transition in fossil fuels – How to ensure workers and their communities don’t get left behind.
    • Emerging technologies – Can offshore wind, storage, EV charging infrastructure, and advanced lighting go all-union?

     
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    Event location
    David Brower Center
    2150 Allston Way
    Berkeley, CA 94704
    (one block from downtown Berkeley BART station)

    Event Co-Sponsors
    UC Berkeley Labor Center
    BlueGreen Alliance
    California Labor Federation
    IBEW Local 1245
    International Trade Union Confederation