Brussels, 16/11/2006
During a meeting with the representative of the Finnish presidency of the EU, the ETUC and several European trade unions reiterated their desire to have the EU adopt an active position in the post-Kyoto negotiations. At the close of these negotiations, the industrialised countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol will have to set up new commitments leading to much greater emissions reductions beyond 2012.
The ETUC is calling on the EU to commit to a reduction of around 25% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and a reduction of around 75% by 2050, in line with the conclusions of the European Council session of March 2005 (see the resolution of the Executive Committee in annex). Efforts on this scale by the wealthy countries are unavoidable if at the same time we want to overcome climate change and enable the poor countries to develop in future.
The ETUC representative put into perspective the impact on EU employment that might result from such efforts and referred to a study underway within the ETUC. “Preliminary results show that employment has more to gain than to lose from an ambitious EU emissions reduction policy, provided that the policy is pursued intelligently and fairly. The job-creation potential in sectors related to the prevention of climate change is enormous. Still, we must not close our eyes. Some economic sectors may be adversely affected, along with the workers. This underlines the importance of anticipation, of support measures for emerging sectors and efficient backing for the impacted sectors,” the ETUC's representative declared in Nairobi.
The Stern Report states that climate change may mortgage the future development of Africa. In Nairobi, Kenyan trade unions alerted their European colleagues to the potentially devastating effects on African workers, at a time when hundreds of thousand of people have been hit by floods now affecting the region of Mombasa in Kenya. “When jobs are lost due to climatic disasters or drought, it is a catastrophe for income and whole families because many African countries have no unemployment insurance,” declared Wafula Musamia, Deputy General Secretary of the Kenyan Trade Union Confederation (COTU).
European trade unions assert that it is vital for the Nairobi Conference to lead to an agreement containing a range of measures that can help developing countries deal with the impact of climate change.
Annex: Executive Committee resolution of October 2006, Tackling climate change: A social priority - Avenues for action