Day one: Research panel The just energy transition

Amidst the accelerating energy transition, there has been a growing recognition that there is an opportunity and challenge to ensure it is a ‘just transition’. A ‘just energy transition’ broadly refers to an equitable process with fair outcomes for fossil-fuel regions and communities, low-income households and disadvantaged groups such as First Nations persons.

This plenary session will cover some dimensions of a just transition with three papers on experiences , including regional employment, community experiences of ‘just transition’ and a case study from the Central Highlands, Queensland.

Chris Briggs

Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney

Building a ‘fair and fast’ energy transition? Renewable energy employment, skill shortages and social licence in regional areas

Dr Chris Briggs has a combination of climate, energy and labour market expertise developed over 25 years’ of experience in policy, research and advocacy in Federal, State and City Governments, and the university sector. Chris is a co-founder and technical director at the Business Renewables Centre – Australia. Key areas of specialisation include corporate renewable power purchase agreements, clean energy jobs and supply chains, demand flexibility and the integration of renewable energy.

Elianor Gerrard

PhD candidate, University of Tasmania

Naming, making and resisting: understanding community participation in, and experience of a “just” transition

Elianor Gerrard is a PhD student in the School of Geography, Planning and Spatial Sciences, University of Tasmania. Her research investigates the community experience of (un)just energy transitions in Australian coal regions with an emphasis on understanding community participation. She holds a Bachelor of International Development and a Graduate Certificate in Community Development. Prior to research, Elianor worked extensively in communications, education and programming for not-for-profits in Australia and overseas.

Chair

Kate Donnelly

Corporate Engagement Analyst, Investor Group on Climate Change

Imagined futures in the context of the energy transition: a case study from the Central Highlands region of Queensland

Kate works as an analyst at the Investor Group on Climate Change, working with institutional investors to drive Paris-aligned decarbonisation at some of Australia’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters. Kate’s Masters research project examined the social dimensions of a ‘just transition’ in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, highlighting an important community perspective for inclusion in national climate policy debates. Kate has previously worked on international climate policy and negotiations under the UNFCCC and women’s rights programs in the South Pacific. She holds a Bachelor of Law from QUT and a Master of Climate Change from the ANU.

Chris Riedy

Professor of Sustainability Transformations, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney

Chris Riedy is a transdisciplinary action researcher with a focus on sustainability transformations. He uses sociological and political theory, narrative theory and futures thinking to design, facilitate and evaluate practical experiments in transformative change towards sustainable futures. He has a particular research interest in the future of energy and its connection to climate change response. Chris led the recent Opportunity Assessment of Australia’s energy foresighting and planning capability for the RACE for 2030 Cooperative Research Centre.