An ILO side event on the Climate Change conference
Towards a Low-Carbon Economy, 3 December 2008, Poznań, Poland
Co-hosted together with ITU, UNEP, ITUC and IOE, this event focuses on how ICT can help to shift from a high to a low carbon global economy and on the Green Jobs Initiative: towards decent work in a sustainable, low-carbon World. The event will be held on 3 December 2008 from 19.30 to 21 hours in Room Grebe, chaired by Peter Poschen, ILO.
> Agenda: Towards a Low-Carbon Economy
Green jobs
Green Jobs have become an emblem of a more sustainable economy and society that preserves the environment for present and future generations and is more equitable and inclusive of all people and all countries.
Green jobs reduce the environmental impact of enterprises and economic sectors, ultimately to levels that are sustainable. Specifically, but not exclusively, this includes jobs that help to protect ecosystems and biodiversity; reduce energy, materials, and water consumption through high-efficiency strategies; de-carbonize the economy; and minimize or altogether avoid generation of all forms of waste and pollution.
Green jobs in emerging economies and developing countries include opportunities for managers, scientists and technicians, but the bulk can benefit a broad cross-section of the population which needs them most: youth, women, farmers, rural populations and slum dwellers.
However, many jobs which are green in principle are not green in practice because of the environmental damage caused by inappropriate practices. The notion of a green job is thus not absolute, but there are ‘shades’ of green and the notion will evolve over time. Moreover, the evidence shows that green jobs do not automatically constitute decent work. Many of these jobs are “dirty, dangerous and difficult”. Employment in industries such as recycling and waste management, biomass energy and construction tends to be precarious and incomes low. If green jobs are to be a bridge to a truly sustainable future, this needs to change. Green jobs therefore need to comprise decent work. Decent, green jobs effectively link Millennium Development Goal 1 (poverty reduction) and Millennium Development Goal7 (protecting the environment) and make them mutually supportive rather than conflicting.
The initiative
The Green Jobs Initiative is a joint initiative by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Employers Organization (IOE) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which has been launched to assess, analyze and promote the creation of decent jobs as a consequence of the needed environmental policies. It supports a concerted effort by governments, employers and trade unions to promote environmentally sustainable jobs and development in a climate-challenged world.
Work under the Green Jobs Initiative so far has focused on collecting evidence and different examples of green jobs creation, resulting in a major comprehensive study on the impact of an emerging green economy on the world of work.
UNEP, ILO, IOE and ITUC are planning a second phase of the Green Jobs Initiative. The project will move from information gathering and analysis in the green jobs report to assistance in policy formulation and implementation through active macro-economic and sectoral assessment of potential green jobs creation.