European Commission webportal on climate change
Climate change is already happening and represents one of the greatest environmental, social and economic threats facing the planet. The European Union is committed to working constructively for a global agreement to control climate change, and is leading the way by taking ambitious action of its own.
For the European Metalworkers Federation climate change is a dangerous reality which demands a social response at international as well as European, national and regional/local and company levels. We believe that a drive towards new industrial strategies based on low carbon technologies and products can offer opportunities but also challenges for the future of industrial workplaces in Europe.
Sustainable development seeks to "meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” in the sense of balance between economic, social and environmental elements. Still, increasingly rapid global changes, from the melting of the icecaps to growing energy and resource demand, are challenging this objective.