Climate Jobs Institute Leads New York Legislative and Labor Leaders on Educational Delegation to Sweden
In late September, the Cornell ILR Climate Jobs Institute (CJI) led an educational delegation of New York State legislative and labor leaders to Stockholm, Sweden. The delegation, which took place from September 22nd to the 27th, follows two similar trips for labor leaders, New York State legislators, and New York City council members over the last 15 months.
There were 14 elected leaders or staff members from the New York State legislature, including Assembly Labor Committee Chair Harry Bronson, Assembly and Senate Energy Committee Chairs Didi Barrett and Kevin Parker, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s Senior Advisor Wendy Gallegos. Eleven labor leaders from New York also joined, representing industries like construction, utilities, public schools, and building services.
“Sweden is a world leader in decarbonizing the electric grid and heavy industry,” said CJI’s Executive Director, Lara Skinner. “It was incredibly valuable for legislators and labor leaders to learn from leaders on the ground and form connections that can help advance similar work in New York State.” CJI Assistant Directors Zach Cunningham and Melissa Shetler also joined the delegation, as did Cornell University’s Vice President for University Relations Joel Malina.
On the first two days of the trip, delegates familiarized themselves with the country's social, political, and environmental landscape. First, they met with IVL Sweden, an environmental research institute, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, who both gave an overview of Sweden’s climate goals and the nation’s attempts to drastically reduce emissions over several decades. Delegates also met with multiple members of the Swedish Parliament and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, which helps local and regional governments advance climate action and other key issues.
Over the next few days, delegates learned about the Swedish labor movement and its engagement with climate issues. Representatives from the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (commonly known as LO) and the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (commonly known as TCO), the two largest trade union confederations in Sweden, shared their climate action plans, while Cunningham led a panel conversation with leaders of the Swedish Buildings’ Workers Union, the Swedish Woodworkers & Forestry Union, the Swedish Union for Service & Communications Workers, and the Union for Civil Servants.
Delegates also had the chance to meet with representatives from IF Metall, including the union’s president Marie Nilsson. IF Metall is one of the largest unions in Sweden, and it is currently leading an extended strike of maintenance workers at Tesla. “Hearing from trade union leaders across different sectors was really inspiring, and it allowed us to see how deeply engaged organized labor is in the fight to create a more just, sustainable economy,” said Cunningham.
Over the trip’s final days, delegates also met with the Special Coordinator for Climate Action of the City of Stockholm and RWE, a renewable energy company involved in offshore wind in Sweden and New York. They were also able to tour Cedar House, an all-timber, energy-efficient, large-scale housing complex that won Stockholm’s building of the year award in 2023. “Seeing how Swedish architects are using sustainable materials like timber for major housing projects really opened our eyes to what we can be doing here in New York,” said Melissa Shetler.
This educational delegation is CJI’s third in recent years, with previous trips to Denmark. CJI organized the delegation in collaboration with the Climate Jobs National Resource Center and Climate Jobs New York. CJI plans to continue to organize similar trips in the future to learn from world leaders how New York State can meet its ambitious climate, labor, and equity goals over the coming years.
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Upcoming webinar—Learning from Abroad: Lessons for Building an Equitable Clean Energy Economy in NYS
Wednesday, November 20th, 1pm - 2:30pm
Since 2018, the Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell’s ILR School has led several international delegations to learn from other nations’ successes and shortcomings in the fight to create an equitable, unionized clean energy economy. In this webinar, legislators and union leaders from New York and abroad will share some key takeaways from these delegations and how they have influenced their work here at home.