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Governments must invest in those affected by energy transition: Carney

MONTREAL — Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney says Canada must invest in retraining to help workers affected by the transition to a greener economy.

The question of how to finance a lower-carbon economy is on the agenda at the next UN climate conference, known as COP26, taking place Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Carney is the UN special envoy on climate action and finance. He wants the global financial sector to use their trillions of dollars in assets to help achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Carney told the International Economic Forum of the Americas audience that the flow of capital to the energy sector will need to double over the next 25 years to help it transition to renewables and expand the use of technologies such as carbon capture and storage.

He says governments also need to reinvest in areas that will be affected by the energy transition, such as funding for worker retraining.

Thousands of workers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland have already lost jobs in the oil and gas sector due to consolidation and downsizing. Some business and labour groups say these provinces need federal support to diversify their economies and retrain workers.