Multiple States have made a moral commitment to assist the workers and communities that have powered our Country for generations as we move to an inclusive, clean and renewable future. Changing and shifting economies are nothing new, yet, with focussed national, state and local attention and resources in collaboration with the Impact investing industry, we have a chance to do something different. While Colorado has a smaller percentage of our economy dependent on coal than other regions, our smaller communities are disproportionately impacted, so we created the nation’s first ever Just Transitions Office to create an action plan, drive investment in and create an economic ecosystem to turn this around.
Connecting and stacking government, philanthropic and capital (such as opportunity zones) is critical so we are already working with the Impact Investing Coalition with national leadership (NRDC, Transform Finance and Initiative for Responsible Investment) along with the Colorado State Treasurer to create an impact concept paper, hold our first convening in late June and to fund Local Equity Capacity Building Effort to embed equity in planning, implementation, investments, and local neutral conveners.
This Colorado panel will serve as a unique, scalable model, stacking an array of funding and finance tools framed with a national, state and local collaborative.
*Another option for this panel is to invite the White House Just Transitions Director to provide a national perspective and we can invite the Telluride Foundation, State of Colorado Director, a community rep; and the Initiative for Responsible investment rep. to highlight the Colorado model
