Submission from the CCPA to Natural Resources Canada's consultation on a people-centred just transition

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Canada must wind down and ultimately phase out the vast majority of oil, gas and coal production in the next 30 years to meet our domestic and international climate goals, CCPA Senior Researcher Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood writes in a submission to the federal government's consultation on just transition legislation. The regulatory phase-out of coal-powered electricity generation in Canada provides a very clear model for how this can and should be done, he writes. Once a clear deadline is set, firms and workers can begin to plan for the transition into new industries. In contrast, the absence of a clear end date for oil and gas production encourages firms and workers to continue to invest into what will inevitably become stranded assets and stranded careers. "There can be no just transition without a transition," Mertins-Kirkwood writes.