Trade Unions and Climate Change

Details: Published on Tuesday, 03 December 2019 03:58; Written by editor

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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 1948 ... December 3, 2019
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Trade Unions and Climate Change:
The Need for a Programmatic Shift

Asbjørn Wahl

Climate change is a trade union issue. That is what we increasingly, and rightly, have been told by international trade union leaders over the last ten to fifteen years. While the inter-governmental negotiations on climate change can be dated back to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and the first so-called Conference of the Parties (COP) in Berlin, 1995, it was only about 15 years ago that trade union representation at the COP conferences reached around 100 delegates. Since that, representation has been increasing, and we have seen a growing trade union activity on climate change issues.

This activity has focused particularly on the social dimension of climate change and climate change policies. Thus, the focus has been more on the effects on workers of climate change prevention and mitigation than on policies to really cut fossil fuel emissions. However, trade unions, as well as governmental bodies, cannot be assessed only on the basis of their activities, but... first and foremost on what has been achieved in terms of climate change prevention and mitigation -- and the social consequences. In this regard, we must admit that the trade union movement has not been able to take a lead in the climate change struggle.