New Private Markets: What does the Just Transition actually mean?

James Magor, Director, Sustainability at Actis, recently spoke with Charles Avery of New Private Markets for a feature article on what a Just Transition actually means. James provided Actis’ view of what constitutes a Just Transition and the importance of deploying skills training to create employment opportunities for local communities, especially given the fact that new renewable energy jobs tend to emerge in different areas from traditional, thermal energy-related jobs and therefore serve different populations. James provided the example of Actis’ work with Lekela Power and the skills programme deployed in Senegal as an example of how the firm has sought to invest in a Just Transition. Click here to read the full article and read on below for some of James’ commentary.

James Magor, Director, Sustainability at Actis, commented:

“There’s a massive opportunity for the clean energy sector to create jobs, but there is a risk that the period of transition will leave some behind. Take South Africa: if you look at where the most attractive wind and solar resources are, they are on the opposite side of the country from the coal reserves. So, if you create renewable energy jobs in the Western Cape and you lose coal jobs in Mpumalanga, the energy transition will negatively affect people in the northeast of the country. A Just Transition needs to ensure that people are not left behind, and retraining is possible.

“In Senegal, we built the largest wind farm in West Africa. We devoted a lot of time and resources to build skills locally in the jurisdiction where the wind farm is located. The skills programme not only helped us to win an expansion contract, it de-risked the initial development and construction because people living in the vicinity of the wind farm were realising benefits and were supportive of that project’s development.”