California’s Just Transition Roadmap

In September 2020, California Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-79-20, where he identified the need to design and implement the state’s first Just Transition Roadmap. California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency, Office of Planning and Research, Department of Finance, and other state agencies are in the process of delivering the roadmap, consistent with the recommendations in the report, “Putting California on the High Road: A Jobs and Climate Action Plan for 2030.”

The state is working closely with workers, business owners, consumers, community members, and industry leaders to establish a shared vision for California’s economic future while developing implementation strategies to achieve it.

To date, a Just Transition in California has been identified as an economic future where all residents benefit from:

• Economic diversification strategies
• Industry planning
• Safety net development
• Shift to a carbon-neutral economy
• Economic recovery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The roadmap will continue to outline how California’s climate change goals provide an opportunity to improve the environment while boosting the economy and employing historically marginalized people to secure jobs.

Just Transition strategies were first led by low-income communities of color, who identified the need to phase out industries harming workers, community health, and the environment while simultaneously building equitable, democratic, and ecologically resilient economies. Usually coming into play during shifting economies, industry change, or other disruptions, Just Transitions embrace that viable jobs and a healthy environment go hand-in-hand.

Policy summary sourced with materials from: The Labor Center at University of California at Berkeley, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and Climate Justice Alliance.