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Unless major action is taken in the next 15 years to cut global greenhouse gas emissions, the consequences for our environment, for our workplaces and our communities will be devastating. There must be a firm commitment from developed countries, which are mostly responsible for climate change, to undertake strong and lasting emissions reduction and to support developing countries in their
effort to adapt to the consequences of climate change.
Building and strengthening quality public services, regulation and fiscal frameworks are essential to deal with climate change. Massive investments are required in water, health, transportation and other essential services and infrastructure, after an era of cuts following privatisation and liberalisation policies.
If solutions to climate change are to be found, there will be new ways to work and new jobs in all sectors. PSI stands ready to do everything in our power to build and strengthen quality public services, and to support those public sector workers who are on the front lines of climate change.
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Leaders of Canada’s largest private industrial and public sector unions are issuing a rare joint call to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, demanding he lead the global effort to reach a fair, ambitious and legally-binding international agreement as the high level segment of UN climate talks begin in Copenhagen.
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By 2025, it is estimated that almost two-thirds of the world's population are likely to experience water stress, and for 1 billion of them, this will be severe and socially disruptive. Across the developing world, the predominant responsibility that poor rural and urban women have for domestic water collection, food security and health suggests that they will be among the most vulnerable.
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Failure in Copenhagen is not an option. Government commitment to strengthen public services should be at the heart of the global response to climate change. Only by working together for a planet which puts human needs and respect for our planet ahead of corporate profits will we succeed in this collective effort.
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The PSI delegation in Copenhagen brings together about 20 trade union leaders from 13 countries, both developing and developed, and from various sectors such as energy and water utilities and municipal services.
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As the negotiations move forward, tensions increase between developing and developed countries over the legal form and the level of ambition of a possible agreement in Copenhagen. On the positive side, observers seem more confident that an agreement will be achieved at the end of the two week negotiations. Whether that agreement will be anything close to what the science tells us is necessary is another question.
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The International Organization for Migration released a new study on the second day of the climate change conference in Copenhagen. The study estimates that between 25 million and one billion people could be driven from their homes over the next four decades, but only few of these "climate refugees" would be able to leave their countries due to lacking the means and the ability to travel to wealthier places. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, several West African, South East Asian and Central American countries may become future international migration hotspots.
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The Spanish FSC.CCOO's (Federación de Servicios a la Ciudadanía de Comisiones Obreras) Federal Council adopted a resolution on 2-3 December in Madrid for the COP15. The resolution can be accessed here in Spanish.
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Governments must make binding commitments to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. They must also undertake a wide range of actions to turn our societies rapidly towards the path of sustainability, both environmental and social. The role of government is crucial and undeniable if we wish to avoid the climate disaster that scientists see coming. We must act urgently, in coordination and with determination, to ensure that Quality Public Services become a reality for all citizens of the planet and serve to resolve the climate challenge which threatens all life on earth.
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On the occasion of the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen, the Global Unions including PSI have issued a joint publication, “Green Growth for jobs and social justice“. In announcing the publication, the Chair of the Council of Global Unions, Anita Normark, General Secretary of Building and Work Workers International (BWI), stressed that “to be successful, the fight to reverse climate change must be fought in communities and in workplaces. Clear commitments from governments are essential if we are to reach the linked goals of sustainable economies, green growth, and social justice”. The publication combines the trade union consensus positions developed under the leadership of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) with sectoral perspectives of the Global Union Federations.
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PSI has just released its statement for the upcoming COP 15 climate change conference in Copenhagen. Copenhagen must mark a turning point for global leaders. Only by working together for a planet which puts human needs and respect for our fragile, endangered planet ahead of corporate profits and greed will we succeed in this collective effort.
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PSI is asking its affiliates to send letters to Governments urging them to ensure that the agreement in Copenhagen recognizes the importance of quality and sustainable public services in addressing the urgent challenge of climate change and the need for significant scaling-up of public investment after decades of cuts. PSI has prepared model letters in English, French and Spanish. Click on the link above for the English version. The appendix to the model letter can be found below.
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You can access here the appendix to the model letter on COP15 that PSI is asking affiliates to send to Governments.
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PSI has produced a flyer on climate change, development and forced migration. One serious and immediate impact of climate change is the displacement of human populations. Experts have predicted that in the coming years, as many as 200 million people could be displaced by harsh changes in climatic conditions such as monsoons, droughts, sea level rise and coastal flooding. These people could either be forced to move within the country or could cross the border into another country, thereby effectively becoming migrants.
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At the UN climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, December 2007, PSI said that strengthening public services should be at the heart of the global response to climate change.
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