South Africa to host the ILO Global Green Jobs Conference

CAPE TOWN/ADDIS ABABA (ILO News) - The 5th ILO Global Green Jobs seminar on knowledge sharing, capacity development and joint delivery will be held for the first time in the African region from 8 to 11 March 2016 in Cape Town, South Africa.

The objective is to strengthen ILO’s capacity and support to constituents and key stakeholders in terms of policy advocacy, technical expertise and programmatic guidance to better promote green jobs and mainstream environmental sustainability through the Decent Work Agenda.

During the workshop, jointly organised by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Training Centre of the ILO (ITC-ILO), some 50 participants will discuss the latest trends and innovations related to the green economy and how best to link sustainable development, decent work and green jobs in the implementation of national policies and programmes.

The ILO’s Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Africa, Aeneas C. Chuma, will open the knowledge sharing platform by introducing key challenges and opportunities of large-scale green jobs promotion in an emerging economy.

This interactive platform, which is convened this year on International Women's Day, provides also an opportunity to convey the message that promoting green jobs for African women to gain decent jobs opportunities is not only right but smart.

The 5th Edition of the Global Green Jobs Workshop, which is taking place outside Turin, Italy for the first time, will serve as a forum for exchange of new ideas, tools and best practices that will contribute to better understanding the implications for green jobs promotion in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Climate Agreement, the Green Climate Fund and the ILO’s commitment towards environmental sustainability, expressed in the ILO Tripartite Guidelines on Just Transition, the Environmental Sustainability Policy and the Green Initiative.

Field visits scheduled for 10 March 2016 will also allow participants to get first-hand information on how best to make green jobs and green enterprises an outcome of local development strategies.

Background info

Green jobs are central to sustainable development and respond to the global challenges of environmental protection, economic development and social inclusion. By engaging governments, workers and employers as active agents of change, the ILO promotes the greening of enterprises, workplace practices and the labour market as a whole. These efforts create decent employment opportunities, enhance resource efficiency and build low-carbon sustainable societies.

For more information, contact : Dorit Kemter, [email protected] or Alice Vozza, [email protected]