48: The importance of a 'just transition' to a low carbon economy: Natasha Zervudachi World Benchmarking Alliance

The importance of a 'just transition' to a low carbon economy: Natasha Zervudachi World Benchmarking Alliance Carbon neutrality, De-carbonisation, Carbon credits, Carbon offsets, Carbon sequestration, CFCs global warming, Adaptation fund, Kyoto Protocol, Bali Roadmap, Paris Agreement, G-77, UNFCCC are terms we are increasingly getting familiar with as more and more people across the world engage on issues of climate change. To that list add 'Just Transition' - an initiative of the World Benchmarking Alliance(WBA). In light of the crucial role the private sector has to play in achieving a low-carbon world, the WBA intends to assess 450 of the world's most influential companies in high-emitting sectors on their contribution to a just transition by assessing their alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement alongside their approach to addressing the social challenges of a low-carbon transition. The assessment covers what the companies are doing to respect the rights of workers, communities and the most vulnerable as they work towards low-carbon goals. To learn more, I spoke with Natasha Zervudachi from the WBA about sustainability and sustainable development 👇🏾👇🏾 👉🏾 The big challenges facing our planet 👉🏾 How are governments and the private sector ensuring that as we work towards addressing climate change, we're not creating even greater inequalities or creating mass unemployment or increased poverty as a result of that transition to this new, more carbon neutral world? What we can do to ensure a 'just transition' that is fair and equitable 👉🏾 What the WBA is doing to incentivise businesses to encourage uptake, learning from best practice and roadmaps for those at the start of the journey 👉🏾 Steps the WBA is taking to ensure that 'just transition' balances voices from global south since advocacy on climate change and de-carbonisation is dominated by voices from global north 👉🏾 The importance of embedding concerns of marginalised people in the design of the assessment 👉🏾 The short term and long term ambitions of the WBA for the initiative; the 'Just Transition Coalition' and much more To learn more listen here 👇🏾👇🏾

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The Elephant in the Room Podcast is a curated safe space to have uncomfortable conversations about the pervasive inequalities in society and our workplaces. The idea of the podcast was born from my sense of conflict about identity, self and the concept of privilege and fuelled by my own need to understand how my overlapping identities and experiences had impacted and would continue to impact my life chances. Two years ago I decided to ‘opt out’ to find my own purpose and focus on passion projects including learning about the systemic biases that are endemic in business and society. The Podcast is my very own listening project, a step towards being more intentional in my learning. The Elephant in the Room Podcast is for people who want to be a part of the change, for those who want to step up & speak out, for those who want to learn more about biases, barriers and best practice, for business leaders and for individuals, anyone who is interested in a fairer, more inclusive and compassionate society and workplace. Each week I will interview inspiring speakers from across the world on issues that are taboo and deserve to be mainstream including(but not limited to) systemic and institutionalised racism, discrimination based on further eight protected characteristics, poverty, mental health, climate change. The podcast will also talk about cognitive inclusion, culture, purpose, ethics and the importance of empathy, cultural intelligence and how conversations on identity and disadvantage would be incomplete without considering intersectionality. With the podcast I hope to share stories of people with lived experiences, stories that may have never been told, stories that galvanise us to take action for change and keep the conversations alive by raising the decibel on issues of inequity, inequality in our search for a fairer and more inclusive world.