The Just Solutions Collective launched a new effort to bring forward and coalesce the expertise from frontline communities into the Comprehensive Building Blocks for a Regenerative and Just 100% Policy. This groundbreaking and extensive document lays out the components of an 100% policy that centers equity and justice. Read the full report on our website.
Last year Just Solutions Collective members who are leading experts from and accountable to black, indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) and frontline communities embarked on a collective effort to detail the components of an ideal 100% policy. The creation of this 90-page document was an opportunity to bring the expertise of their communities together.
The Building Blocks document was designed primarily for frontline organizations looking to develop and implement their own local policies with a justice framework. Secondly, is to build alignment with environmental organizations and intermediary groups that are engaged in developing and advocating for 100% policies. The overall goals of the project are to:
- Build the capacity of BIPOC frontline public policy advocates, so that impacted community groups who are leading, working to shape or just getting started on 100% policy discussions have information on what should be included to make a policy more equitable, inclusive and just
- Align around frontline, community-led solutions and leadership, and create a shared analysis and understanding of what it will take to meet our vision for 100% just, equitable renewable energy.
- Create a resource to help ensure equity-based policy components are both integrated and prioritized within renewable energy/energy efficiency policies.
- Build relationships across the movement between frontline, green, and intermediary organizations to create space for the discourse and trust-building necessary to move collaboration forward on 100% equitable, renewable energy policies.
Here is what BIPOC frontline policy experts had to say about this project:
“This building blocks document contains valuable policy ideas that should be considered for any community planning a transition that includes increased renewable energy, sustainability, or clean energy technologies. It also thoughtfully includes language that can support frontline communities and Indigenous rights in the scope of energy transition.”
—Suzanne Singer, PhD, Co-Founder, Native Renewables
“We at the NAACP were honored to work alongside frontline groups and advocates to develop the 100% Policy Building Blocks document. Rooted in equity, this document provides a blueprint for comprehensive, intersectional policy making that will be critical to advancing a just transition. Addressing economic justice, gender justice, racial justice, indigenous rights, environmental justice, restorative justice, immigration justice, labor rights, and more, are all inextricably integral to any agenda to advance a 100% renewable world. This platform does an excellent job of integrating all. We look forward to working arm in arm with other frontline communities to advance the agenda detailed in the 100% Policy Building Blocks document.”
—Jacqui Patterson, Sr. Director, Environmental and Climate Justice Program NAACP
“Building Blocks for a 100% Regenerative & Just Policy is a vital resource for environmental justice organizations like APEN as we work for a Just Transition in this time of climate crisis. We can use this tool as we continue to advocate for a justice-centered approach to energy policy in California.”
Sylvia Chi, Policy Director, Asian Pacific Environmental Network
“PUSH Buffalo joined in the effort to create the building blocks for 100% regenerative and just policy document with the understanding that frontline communities most directly impacted by the climate emergency are the source of solutions that can catalyze a just transition to a regenerative, living economy. This document assembles frontline solutions into a powerful and comprehensive resource for state and local action, and should be regarded as a necessary corrective to top-down policy options that diminish the centrality of racial and economic justice and tribal sovereignty”
— Clark Gocker, Director of Policy and Strategy at PUSH Buffalo
“Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement is excited about the Building Blocks document. It provides the foundation to bring organizations and climate activists together around a shared vision of climate justice rooted in equity and a just transition away from polluting and extractive industries.”
—Matt Ohloff, Climate Justice Organizer, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
We are so grateful to the many individuals and organizations that made this project possible. Stay tuned for more on the project including webinars and blog posts about each section.