ILO key messages for the COP21

The ILO is calling for an explicit recognition in the Paris Agreement of the importance of decent work and of the need for a just transition for all.

News | 18 November 2015
  1. Climate change poses major risks to economic prosperity and social progress. Unabated climate change will exacerbate damage to infrastructure, disrupt business activity, and destroy jobs and livelihoods on an unprecedented scale.

  2. By contrast, if properly managed and adopted by consensus, transitions to low-carbon, environmentally and socially sustainable economies can become a strong driver of job creation, job upgrading, social justice and poverty eradication.

  3. Given the scale, complexity and urgency of the challenge of climate change, on the one hand, and those of social inclusion and decent work on the other, taking a holistic approach to confront these challenges is not an option, but a global necessity.

  4. Sustainable development, including coping with climate change, is only possible with the active engagement of the world of work and the full involvement of the social partners. The world of work has demonstrated that it offers solutions for resource and energy efficiency, deployment of clean energy, restoration and sustainable use of natural resources for present and future generations. It also helps to safeguard livelihoods and to deal in an equitable manner with possible adverse impacts of the transformation to low-carbon economies on employment and incomes.

  5. Coherent policies across the economic, environmental, social, education, training and labour portfolios need to provide an enabling environment for enterprises, workers, investors, consumers and trade unions and employers' organizations to embrace and drive the transition towards low-carbon, environmentally sustainable and inclusive economies and societies.

  6. Social dialogue, including the practice of tripartism and collective bargaining, is instrumental for effective decision-making in the area of climate change. Climate change policy responses - when discussed and implemented with the participation and agreement of social partners, the government, and civil society actors, - are better informed, more stable, easier to implement, and more beneficial for workers, businesses of all sizes, and society at large.

  7. The Just Transition framework adopted by governments, employers and workers organizations of 185 ILO member States and the related Policy guidelines for a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all, offer a menu of policies that countries can draw on in order to  ensure appropriate responses to climate change that also maximize opportunities for decent work creation, advance social protection and foster a just transition for all.

  8. An explicit recognition in the Paris Agreement of the importance of decent work and of the need for a just transition for all is essential for a climate change regime that will enable actors in the world of work to engage fully and effectively and play their part in the transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all.