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My dad grew up in a small town in Eastern India named Hazaribagh,
where life revolved around coal.
Schools, bridges, hospitals,
libraries were built over generations directly by the coal industry.
Coal companies even provided rights to movie theaters.
My grandfather worked here for 30 years as a coal mining engineer.
When it was time for my dad to decide on his career,
there were now two options in front of him, coal and now oil.
He picked the latter partly because their offices had air conditioning.
If you've ever been to India over the summer, you may understand that choice.
As a result of that simple decision, my family's life transformed.
We moved from India to China to Texas.
All the while, I was privileged enough to receive an elite education.
But despite that, when it was time for me to decide on my career,
I also felt drawn towards energy issues.
How predictable and boring?
I wondered if I should distance myself away from energy just to avoid doing what
two generations in my family had already done.
Ultimately, I settled on clean energy, telling myself,
this is different enough from what my parents did, and
maybe I can still retain some semblance of originality.
And I enjoyed it too, for the first time in my career,
it felt as though I was connected to a mission that was broader than myself.
But deep down, something still didn't feel quite right.
As clean energy transition and sustainability became mainstream
buzzwords, it seemed as though everyone on my LinkedIn feed, including myself,
had suddenly taken up arms in some sort of war of biblical proportions.
There was an epic battle being waged against climate change and
every investment banker with a green bond was a climate justice warrior.
Now I'm all for enthusiasm, but it started to feel a little too convenient,
a little inauthentic and frankly, a little hollow.
Personally, I felt ungrounded.
The more I tethered myself to this grand ambition of climate change,
the more distant I felt from my roots and family history.
But as I was working to reconcile this personal dilemma,
I came across a broader and much more important problem.
Amidst all the excitement about new, clean energy technologies and innovations,
what was often never talked about were the people actually on the ground.
I wondered, as the world moved away from fossil fuels, what would happen
to communities like my dad's hometown who depended on coal for everything?
Who is looking out for them?
Let's take a moment to consider the life of an average coal mine worker in
a developing economy.
They have worked in the mines for 20 years,
they've developed hearing impairments from being too close to blast sites.
They have respiratory illnesses from direct exposure to coal ash day in and
day out.
But despite these extreme challenges, this job is a blessing,
it is virtually the only thing that separates his family from extreme poverty.
Now imagine what happens when nearby coal plants in the surrounding area are shut.
He loses his job, there's no other industry in town,
which means that the only two options are to leave town or
try his hand as a daily wage laborer.
How tragic that the same person who bore the brunt of all the environmental
harms of coal will now also bear the brunt of the transition to clean energy.
As countries move away from fossil fuels,
millions in already vulnerable communities will be put at serious risk.
Over 10 million people are dependent on coal just in India, but
this is a problem for the world, China, Indonesia, Australia, West Virginia.
All these places have communities that are dependent.
But let me be clear, coal does need to go.
If the world has to come close to meeting our climate change objectives,
we do need to phase out fossil fuels over the next few decades.
But the way in which we manage this transition could be the difference
between sustainable growth and human catastrophe.
Now there are some who say that all transitions have winners and losers,
it's been this way forever.
That might be true.
But the sheer magnitude of the current energy
transition will be disruptive like nothing we have ever seen.
And when lives are disrupted, especially in developing economies,
the result is not just unemployment, it's extreme poverty.
Now, I've also heard the argument that there'll be new clean energy
jobs to make up for the jobs that are lost in fossil fuels and
maybe even more jobs will be created in the aggregate over the long term.
But human beings don't live in the aggregate or over the long term.
They live in the here and now, with all the struggles and
dependencies that have been deepened over generations.
Some also say that it should be the government's responsibility to take care
of those who are left behind so that the private sector can focus on innovation and
technology.
But that's simply too convenient, just relying on the government to
take care of social consequences is not a strategy, it's a feel good exercise.
We need to move beyond wishful thinking and think holistically about
how our energy transition cannot just be clean, but also just.
Now, no two communities will have the same solution.
For some, it could be a direct swap of fossil jobs to clean energy jobs, for
many others, like my dad's hometown, entirely new industries have to be
created, whether it's eco-tourism, agriculture or construction.
But here's the deal, investing in the communities that will
be left behind is not just ethical, it's practical.
These same communities represent much of the opposition to clean
energy legislation today.
So investing in them, supporting them, and
making sure they're not left behind actually maximizes our
chances of achieving the transition in the first place.
Now, there's a lot of work that's left to be done, but
there are some important early signs of progress.
For example, the Just Transition Initiative and
the Climate Justice Alliance works with companies all around the world to pursue
climate change mitigation but also support marginalized communities,
all the way from South Africa to India.
But if we want to make a real dent in the problem, our efforts have to be bolder and
broader, this is about a lot more than just coal or any other energy source.
This is a while about how we think of sustainability in the first place.
Sustainability must be broader than just protecting the environment.
It must include protecting people, especially those who are most at risk.
Now, companies and governments are certainly important, but
I believe that you and I have the most important role to play.
We know that Millennials and Gen Ziers are the most likely to make
purchasing decisions based on sustainable business practices.
So your pocketbook can actually be a vote and
expression of solidarity with the voices who are not yet at the table.
And as future business leaders, it's our opportunity and
responsibility to ensure that those same voices also belong in the boardroom.
So the next time you're stepping out for your morning coffee, or
deciding what stocks to back on Robin Hood, or preparing for
the next meeting in the boardroom, push yourself to take that extra step.
Challenge yourself to do a little extra research.
Ask yourself, how can I support a world that is not just more clean,
but more just?
As we scramble to reduce our carbon footprint,
what can I do for those who will be left behind?
Thank you.
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