2021 USSIF Forum: Highlights
Sunwealth CFO Omar Blayton Joins Leaders in Investment, Labor and Philanthropy to Discuss “A Just Transition”
As the world transitions from an extractive, fossil fuel-driven economy toward a more sustainable, low-carbon future, how do we ensure that deeply marginalized communities across the global south and underserved populations in the US and Europe, such as communities of color and Indigenous Peoples, are not left behind? On June 17th, Sunwealth CFO Omar Blayton joined Vonda Brunsting, Program Manager of The Just Transition Project at the Harvard Kennedy School and experts from labor and philanthropy for a discussion of how to ensure access to clean, affordable energy for all at USSIF’s 2021 Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment.
As individuals and communities envision a just transition – reimagining an economy that is responsive to the needs of all people, where workers and communities have control over the decisions that affect their daily lives and where the benefits of growth and prosperity over the pivotal decade ahead are felt in a fair and equitable manner – the panel, which also featured Sean Escoffery, Executive Director of the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Foundation and Erin Hutson, Director of Corporate Affairs at Labors Int’l Union of North America (LiUNA), provided concrete examples of how social responsible investment can drive it.
Support Workers
Hutson spoke on the issues for workers in the oil, gas, and renewable sectors, and the ways LIUNA has acted to support workers in the just transition. She also shone a spotlight on a key group in the just transition: a smaller group of companies on the electric utility side with both a legacy workforce and the ability to change the power mix for US customers. Focusing on that middle group, explained Hutson, will help ensure that oil and gas jobs don’t get “bad” before the renewable jobs get “good”.
Challenge Solar “Redlining”
Blayton described how allowing the terms of renewable energy investment to be dictated by a small group of large institutional investors has contributed to solar redlining – a focus on utility-scale projects and “investment-grade” offtakers to the exclusion of community-based projects, particularly in low-income communities and communities of color. Sunwealth works to democratize solar for communities and investors by partnering with local solar developers and installers to identify high performance solar projects that deliver long-term, meaningful savings to communities while providing strong, stable returns to investors. Engaging in a just transition involves challenging traditional assumptions about what’s “investable” – and focusing on fundamentals like strong underwriting, long-term partnerships and strategies for risk mitigation. Sunwealth’s fundamentals-based approach – together with its diversified portfolio strategy – allow to organization to build a diverse and inclusive pipeline of projects that deliver economic benefits to all stakeholders in its transactions.
Learn from Experience
Escoffery began his remarks with a question: How can we reimagine a different future? He went on to discuss challenges in engaging in the just transition, especially from the grant-making perspective, speaking in depth on how the focus on the justice part of the transition can get missed if we aren’t intentional about inclusion. In Pittsburgh, for example, the state identified a number of innovation zones to generate economic activity in the city, but initially neglected to include two economically challenged, historically African-American neighborhoods. By focusing on “inclusive innovation” – looking at how to use economic development tools to create jobs and opportunities in disconnected communities, the City has been able to create one of the most successful innovation zones in the state. Escoffery also discussed the period of disconnect between how we actually achieve a just transition and how to win against the industries that have been embedded long-term.
Conclusion
As we transition from fossil fuels to a renewable energy-based economy, we have an opportunity to invest in an economy that is more equitable and just to all stakeholders. Socially responsible investment has a key role to play in driving justice and inclusion. Investments that prioritize workers and underserved communities, challenge traditional assumptions about creditworthiness or “investability” and learn from past experiences on how to catalyze investment will lead the way.
For more information about USSIF’s Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, see USSIF Forum 2021.
For more information on The Just Transition Project at the Harvard University JFK School of Government, see The Just Transition.
For more information about Laborers’ International Union of North America, see LIUNA.
For more information about the work of The Roy and Patricia Disney Foundation, see RPDFF.
For more information on Sunwealth’s investment strategy, see Sunwealth Featured Investments.