NEW YORK (ILO News) – The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, has called on Governments to take people-centred action to create decent jobs and protect livelihoods, as the world moves to a carbon-neutral economy.

Addressing delegates at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York, Prime Minister Sanchez said, “'The economic transition that we need cannot leave anyone behind, it has to be a just transition. Our climate-related ambitions and social commitments must also go hand in hand with the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

“Spain intends to be at the forefront of a transition that puts people at the center of the action. Spain wants to promote an international just transition partnership with the ILO.”

The commitments represent a significant engagement by governments, employers organizations, trade unions, UN agencies and civil society to pursue a common agenda to advance a just transition to environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all.

Speaking after the Summit, ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said, “A just transition means ensuring the climate actions we take protect the planet, people and the economy. This Initiative is designed to encourage policy coherence around measures that boost decent green job opportunities, skills development, and enterprise innovation, along with social protection measures for the vulnerable.”

Ryder welcomed the commitments made by countries to make national plans for a just transition and create decent green jobs. ILO data shows that measures to green the production and energy use could lead to job gains of some 24 million jobs by 2030.

Announcing the Climate Action for Jobs Initiative, just ahead of the Summit, UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said, “Business cannot succeed on a planet that fails. Jobs cannot be sustained on a dying planet. We will need government, businesses and people everywhere to join these efforts so we can put climate action into a higher gear.”

The Initiative sets out specific measures for countries to include in national plans, including:

Assessing the employment, social, and economic impact of climate action.

• Implementing skills development and upgrading measures.
• Designing innovative social protection policies to protect workers and vulnerable groups.
• Increasing the transfer of technology and knowledge to developing countries, alongside innovation and responsible investment.
• Fostering a conducive business environment to enable enterprises, particularly SMEs, to adopt low-carbon production processes.
• Devising economic policies and incentives to support and encourage enterprises’ transition towards the environmentally sustainable production of goods and services.
• Creating mechanisms for inclusive social dialogue to build consensus for transformative and sustainable change.

The ILO Guidelines for a Just Transition, adopted by governments and representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations, offer a framework to guide the transition to low-carbon economies.

Implementation of the initiative will be led by the ILO, with support from other partners, including the International Trade Union Confederation and the International Organisation of Employers.