Modest Trade Union Successes Inside Big Picture
The ICEM tracks climate negotiations because of their profound implications for all workers, but especially industrial workers in energy-producing and energy-intensive industries. The Global Union Federation supports a fair, ambitious, and legally-binding climate treaty, but insists that decision-makers consider the social implications.
Existing jobs must be made more sustainable, and new, or “green jobs,” can be created, but they must not be “mcjobs.” They must provide decent work. This implies a need for national industrial strategies. Strong social programmes must back specific “Just Transition” provisions.
Lastly, the world must not forget that fundamental structural changes in our economy are needed as the financial crisis demonstrated that the same kind of short-sighted thinking that has jeopardized the environment, equally has jeopardized economic stability.
After the failure that was COP-15 in Copenhagen in 2009, COP-16 in Cancún, Mexico, opened to low expectations. Many felt that the best that could be hoped for was to put the process back on track, build some trust, and aim for real decisions at COP-17 in 2011.
