Climate Change: an issue for workers & trade unions

1. Climate Change: an issue for workers & trade unions

2. Summary • Impacts of climate change, Africa’s vulnerability • Impacts on employment • Of climate change • Of adaptation • Of emission reductions

3. From 0 to 93.9 tons per capita

4. Africa’s Vulnerability • VULNERABITITY: Characteristics of a person or group and their situation influencing their capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impact of a natural hazard (climate change) • => Physical: sea shore, arid zones • => socio-economic: poverty, gender inequality, etc • Africa and South East Asia are more vulnerable to climate change.

6. CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON AFRICA • Africa is highly vulnerable to the various manifestations of climate change. Six important factors: •  • Water resources: water stress/ reduced areas for production/ decreased yields  reduction in agricultural production/ knock-out effects on rural economies. • • Food security at risk from declines in agricultural production and uncertain climate • • Natural resources productivity at risk and biodiversity that might be irreversibly lost: overfishing  affect fisheries/coral reefs (10 million people employed) Ex: Tanga • • Vector- and water-borne diseases, especially in areas with inadequate health infrastructure • • Infrastructure that is exposed to flooding and other extreme events - sea level rise  risk for coastal cities  relocation of business? • • Desertification by changes in rainfall and intensified land use.

7. Climate change, vulnerability and employment • The impacts of climate change on employment remain mostly unexplored by research. • Job losses expected in several sectors due to extreme weather events and increases in temperatures: • => climate-sensitive sectors (agriculture, fisheries and tourism) • => infrastructure (urban employment as consequence of ie lack of transportation to reach workplaces, workplaces destroyed). • => Health damages  adverse effects on workers’ productivity & income • Adaptation: policies aimed at helping communities adapt to climate change. Ambitious adaptation policies can create local jobs. IF DECENT could reduce long term vulnerability - only possible with LIMITED climate change,< 2 degrees

8. Protecting the climate implies building a new economic model: impacts on employment • → Different impacts, depending on the sectors' impacts on emissions • - Power generation • - Energy users: Manufacturing, Transport, Mining, Construction, Services... • - Emissions from deforestation and changes in land use. • Important to better understand the impact of climate change measures on sectors (currently, less serious than rise in oil prices, trends towards globalized production) • A climate-friendly economy opens the way for better and also new jobs.

9. Green & decent jobs: protecting climate as an opportunity for changing production • Green jobs are decent jobs which reduce their environmental impact, leading to environmentally, economically and socially sustainable enterprises and economies • Climate protection can bring opportunities in new sectors Renewables (jobs + access) • Public transport (jobs + better mobility for workers) • Environmental protection (water conservation) • Energy efficiency • The biggest challenge remains transforming current jobs • ENSURE A JUST TRANSITION - a mechanism to ensure social justice in the transformation of our societies towards more sustainable pathways (Investments in Green & Decent Jobs, Assessment of employment consequences, Social Dialogue, Skills & Training, Social Protection, Local Development)

10. An issue for trade unions • Solidarity Effects are going to be unequally distributed (between countries, with countries); Responsibilities are also different (solidarity between unions implies also defending the weakest): Targets, Financial support • Transformation Climate is also our issue because addressing it implies recognising the need for a huge transformation in our societies, in our production and consumption systems, and therefore also on jobs. And recognition alone is not sufficient. Leadership by the labour movement is needed for transforming the system • Justice Unless we fight for making this transformation work for the people, ensuring a Just Transition towards a truly sustainable model, we will only see superficial changes towards more inequality & environmental degradation

11. Thank You!