| The climate issue trade unions and climate change |
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| Thursday, 24 April 2008 | |
 GENEVA - Climate change will affect not only our approach to climate. It will, for many people around the world, particularly in developing countries, a deep impact on employment, income and lifestyle. Not only do workers need to adapt to new modes of production "clean" but, in addition, several workplaces may disappear because of modes of production "unsustainable", or simply because some geographical areas will ceased to exist. Such a situation could force entire communities to migrate. But even outside such disaster scenarios, global warming now affecting some sectors, like tourism.
The tourism sector is particularly vulnerable to climate change. With the rising sea levels, many coastal zones and small islands will face significant changes in employment. In the Maldives, for example - where tourism is responsible for 18 per cent of GDP, 60 per cent of trade and 90 per cent of tax revenues to the state - the rising sea level will result At best, with some erosion of coasts and, at worst, by the disappearance of a significant portion of the landmass in the next thirty years and the penetration of salt water that will eventually make the island uninhabitable. It is time to act! More than a third of the world's population is economically active. It is, therefore, important that the issue of climate change and its consequences on employment should be taken seriously within companies. Workers in the world and their unions have a key role to play. They should not act alone, but in cooperation with their employers, and with the wider community and local governments, regional and international levels. From local to international level, workers at United Nations personnel: all must unite their forces.Beyond these environmental issues, many workplaces threaten to disappear completely as a result of structural changes caused by climate change. The impact on employment will be enormous. Workers and their organizations have a vested interest to propose measures socio-economic level. To ensure a fair transition, both a social, economic and environmental industries unsustainable to sustainable industries, workers, employers and governments must cooperate. The social dialogue at national level will, through planning, education and preparation of changes, a more fair and effective. The role of the ILO To address the social impact of climate change, the ILO faces two challenges of a structural nature. It is for the Organization to implement effectively its DWCPs, on the one hand, and participate actively, on the other hand, the process of UN reform. These challenges are not specifically related to the issue of climate change, but they raise in this regard specific issues, in the case is a relatively new area for the ILO. More DWCPs will play an important role in cooperation between the ILO and other organizations of the United Nations system, the more these programs will help strengthen the influence of the ILO on the issues of decent work and sustainable development in the process of UN reform. In other words, the success of the ILO in the fight against climate change depends largely on the success of these programmes by country. |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 03 July 2008 ) |
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