As resources aimed at climate resilience and accelerating the country’s transition to a clean energy economy flow into communities, how can these investments translate into good jobs that uplift communities, particularly those most affected by climate and economic injustices?

At a panel during The Kresge Foundation’s Our Urban Future convening, leading voices in climate and labor explored this pressing question, emphasizing that while climate action brings tremendous job potential, without intentional policies, we risk reinforcing inequities rather than eliminating them.

The panel, led by Xavier de Souza Briggs, senior fellow at Brookings Metro, included Oliver L. Baines, president/CEO of Central Valley NMTC Fund, Bo Delp, executive director, Texas Climate Jobs Project, Meishka Mitchell, president and CEO, Emerald Cities Collaborative, and Sarah Mostafa, program director at the Families and Workers Fund.

Together, they painted a complex picture: creating a sustainable and inclusive workforce to fuel the climate and clean energy economy requires a foundational shift in both the public and private sector to put equity, worker power and community voices at the forefront of the climate economy.

“Green Jobs” and the Challenge of Equity

“Climate jobs are not necessarily good jobs,” Briggs pointed out, underscoring that despite the potential of these new roles, they do not inherently come with fair wages, safe conditions, or paths for advancement.

It’s important to be intentional in ensuring these climate jobs benefit historically marginalized communities, Baines said. In one example, Baines, chair of the board of the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission, talked about the commission’s work on a major solar grid project in Fresno, California.

He explained that the project initially planned to outsource out-of-town contractors — a move that would have bypassed local minority contractors and overlooked local workforce training programs.

“I just said, how does that work? Do we not have solar contractors in our community? I’m pretty sure that we do have small business minority contractors right here in Fresno that can do this work. And even more so than that, we have a workforce development program that trains people in construction. All of these things have to be connected. So we stopped everything. We rewrote the RFP (request for proposal),” Baines said.

By pushing to rewrite the project’s criteria, Baines was able to involve local contractors and create jobs for community members trained in solar and construction trades.

“If you really want to build communities that are more equitable, economically just and sustainable, you have to start with those three words and equity. That could mean tackling the structural racism that could be in your policies and procedures, it could be changing structures, how you develop contracts, and the training programs you provide,” Mitchell said.

“But no matter what, we can’t do anything without community. It all needs to be resident-driven and resident-led. We can’t have programs that are going to continue to be detrimental to frontline communities and communities of color,” Mitchell said.

Labor Unions’ Role in a Green Transition

In states like Texas, where climate and labor issues intersect in complex ways, Delp outlined the role of unions in supporting both a just transition to clean and renewable energy and a fair labor market. His organization, founded by labor unions, works to balance Texas’s ambitious clean energy agenda with protections for workers.

Delp explained that many unionized workers in Texas, from janitors to oil refinery workers, now support climate initiatives thanks to new efforts to create jobs that are both pro-worker and pro-environment.

But Texas is also home to significant labor challenges, with minimum wages that remain low, high levels of uninsured workers and persistent racial wage gaps.

“In Texas, 17% of all workers are uninsured – they don’t have health care. The minimum wage is $7.25. White families make, on average, about $52,000 a year, while Black and Latino families make between $36,000 and $39,000,” Delp explained.

For Delp, unions offer a counterweight to these challenges, providing fair wages, health benefits and essential safety standards for clean energy workers.

“Right now, the jobs that are being created are not good jobs, but they can be. When you have a union, you have decent wages. You have health care paid for. On a job site you have a steward who can hold your employer accountable for safe working conditions. When you have a union, what you have access to is justice,” Delp said.

Union partnerships are essential to making green jobs sustainable, Mostafa said. Her organization funds initiatives that expand inclusive training pathways and improve job quality across sectors, particularly for immigrants and other underrepresented workers.

She emphasized that high-road labor practices are not just beneficial for workers but essential for producing high-quality outcomes in infrastructure projects.

“Low-road employers who do not invest in their workforce should not be the ones receiving public funds,” she argued, pointing out the importance of allocating climate funds to employers committed to fair wages and safety.

Ensuring Community-Led Solutions

The panelists agreed that authentic community engagement is central to successful climate-driven economic change. Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs), which outline the social and economic benefits a project will bring to local communities, have gained popularity as a way to hold developers accountable.

Delp noted that in Texas, a strong community benefits framework has allowed projects to secure protections for local workers despite the state’s restrictive labor laws. By fostering agreements between cities, contractors and unions, CBAs have ensured that new green jobs address the specific needs of local workers, including fair wages and safe working conditions.

Mitchell stressed that for these agreements to be effective, local communities must be involved early and frequently.

“It’s about fixing the ills of the past,” Mitchell said. “We need to make sure that communities of color and frontline communities are not just consulted but are primary decision-makers.”

But community engagement can be challenging for those who have never done it, especially in the public sector. For these partnerships to succeed, Mitchell explained, communities need to work with partners as trusted facilitators who can bridge the gap between technical expertise and lived experience. She pointed to her organization’s work with cities like San Francisco, which includes creating justice-based community benefits in response to local needs.

Moving Beyond Philanthropy

Achieving long-term, scalable solutions in green job creation will require more than philanthropic support, Mostafa explained. To create sustainable systems, private investment must be leveraged alongside public and philanthropic funding.

“We don’t need to fix workers; we need to fix the systems that serve workers. We need funding models that support workers and address the opportunity costs of training,” Mostafa said.

To ensure that these initiatives outlast specific administrations and continue regardless of political changes, Mostafa suggested that governance structures designed to institutionalize racial equity and job quality are vital for sustained impact.

For communities all around the country, the climate crisis presents both a challenge and an unprecedented opportunity. As green energy becomes a mainstay, cities must work to build a climate and clean energy economy that doesn’t just mitigate environmental damage but also addresses historic inequalities. Building a climate and clean energy economy requires bold, inclusive policies that prioritize worker rights and community engagement at every step.