Pension Investment in Renewables May Be Undermining a Just Transition

[James Rowe]

Dear All,

Myself, Zoë Yunker and Jessica Dempsey recently published an article in Jacobin on how finance capital, with a particular focus on Canadian pension capital, is impacting the shape of the energy transition.

The piece sketches a link between workers’ own retirement funds and the hollowing out of social value in a renewable energy industry set for exponential growth. But zoomed out further, it provides a rare look at working and living conditions in a sector whose success is yoked to the fate of the climate crisis. As stated by Nico Ries, lead organizer with Green Workers Alliance. “If we don't get a grip on the industry now it’s going to be a way bigger problem down the line.” 

The bottom line of the piece is that relying on financial capital to fund the energy transition — especially without better guardrails from government — means that social value and working conditions will get eroded in the renewables sector, thus making it harder to sell the transition to workers and communities.

https://jacobin.com/2023/10/canada-pension-investment-renewable-energy-workers-rights-just-transition

All the best,

James

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James K. Rowe 
Associate Professor 
School of Environmental Studies
University of Victoria
Office - Turpin A143
Phone - 250.853-3574
Pronouns: he/him/they

New book: 
Radical Mindfulness

I acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose territory the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. The process of colonization is ongoing as are resistances to it. My intention is that the research and teaching I do be in the service of decolonization.