UPJ’s Annual Conference: Just Transition - How We Shape the Transformation Together, Sustainably and Socially

We live amid tremendous change. On the one hand, we are better off than ever, but on the other hand we are experiencing increasing dislocation, destruction, and crises.

What contribution can companies make to a fair shaping of globalization – locally, nationally, and internationally?
What can collaborations and cross-sector cooperations look like?
And what does this mean for sustainability, CSR and corporate citizenship management?

These questions are at the heart of this year's UPJ conference on the 30th of June 2023.

UPJ, the Corporate Citizenship and CSR network, hosts its annual conference as a platform for the transfer of knowledge, networking, and an open collegial exchange in workshops, panels, and lectures. As in the previous year, the venue will be the Federal State Representation of Baden-Württemberg in Berlin. Representatives from companies and civil society, politics and administration are invited to discuss and explore the possibilities of shaping the transformation together, ecologically, and socially at the same time.

After all, the question of social justice is posed differently today than it has been in the past: the industrialised nations have the greatest negative impact on the climate. At the same time, the poorest countries are suffering particularly from the consequences of climate change. The members of the younger generations are claiming their right to a future. But political and economic power is in the hands of people, many of whom will not live to see the consequences of their inaction. The financial burdens of energy transition and ecological transformation hit lower-income households disproportionately harder. While the wealth of the richest increases even in times of crisis.

Therefore, the ecological transformation can only succeed if it is also socially and equitably designed. The transition to a sustainable and low-carbon economy and the reduction of social inequality must be thought of together. We need a new balance of economic prosperity, social justice, and protection of natural resources.

The conference will kick off with a keynote address by Prof. Uwe Schneidewind, Mayor of the City of Wuppertal, economist and former Scientific Director of the Wuppertal Institute, followed by a panel discussion with Katja Mader (CSR Europe), Thorsten Pinkepank (BASF / UN GCD), Alexandra van der Ploeg (SAP), Dr. Pia-Johanna Schweizer (Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz Center Potsdam) and Alexander C. W. Thun (Alfred Thun GmbH) on the topic "Just Transition – But How?".

Various sessions in the afternoon will focus on the following topics: "Climate justice as global responsibility," "SMEs and transformation," "Intermediary organizations with impact," "Supply chains beyond compliance," "Corporate citizenship is more relevant than ever," and "Law and climate justice."

The Conference will take place in Berlin and will be held in German. The registration deadline is the 16th of June.

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