Low-carbon transition could cost 800K jobs if action not taken: report
Global News
If Canada doesn't get better prepared for the inevitable shift to a low-carbon future, 800,000 jobs could be on the line says Canadian Institute for Climate Choices.
The world is headed for a low-carbon transition whether Canada is ready or not — and if companies and government policies don’t get better prepared for this shift, 800,000 jobs could be on the line.
That’s the latest finding from the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices (CICC)’s report, Sink or Swim, Transforming Canada’s economy for a global low-carbon future, which was released Thursday morning.
To avoid a massive drop in profits for Canada’s publicly traded companies — and to help save the 800,000 jobs that exist in these transition-vulnerable sectors, like auto manufacturing and oil — the researchers warn that governments and companies alike need to act fast.
“If those companies are successful in adapting to new market realities, then they can be successful for the coming decades,” said Rachel Samson, who is the Clean Growth Research Director at the CICC.
“However, if they’re not, there is a risk of job loss, and it’ll be important for communities and regions to consider opportunities for developing new areas of growth.”
More than 60 countries representing at least 70 per cent of the global GDP have committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Global investors are also starting to recognize the importance of climate action. Technological change around the world is accelerating, too, according to the report.
These three factors tell a story: low-carbon transition is happening, the report says, and fast — and Canada has to keep up.
“Three broad trends are combining in ways that make the global low carbon transition inevitable. And in some markets, change may happen much more quickly than anticipated,” said Samson.