Tripartite National Conference on Green Jobs: The Way Forward

The conference will provide a platform for stakeholders (especially constituents and social partners) to improve awareness and understanding on the green jobs concepts and priorities in Bangladesh and to provide recommendation for way forward.

Background

It is critical that Asia adapts to the effects of climate change. The region’s vulnerability to climate change and climate variability is dictated by its unique physical and socioeconomic attributes, including high population density, relatively low income levels for a large part of the population, and the prominence of agriculture and fishing in providing livelihoods for the rural poor. So, these countries require well developed and gender sensitive climate adaptation related green jobs programs that will bring significant social and employment benefits at the local level for both women and men.

In this regard, engaging the Asian economy into an environmentally sustainable and low carbon development path will bring profound and lasting adjustments to the socio-economic structures of countries in the region. The transformation into a sustainable and low-carbon development will therefore trigger shifts in the labour markets and create demand for new skills and re-skilling programs as well as and social protection and financial schemes for the most vulnerable workers and businesses.

Similar to many Asian and Pacific countries, climate change and responses to it is a high priority area for the Government of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP) 2009, prepared by the government, envisions to build resilience and capacity to withstand and adapt to climate-change impacts. However, employment and labour market dimension of the climate change in the context of Bangladesh needs to be well-defined and priorities identified for specific interventions. In particular, the involvement of ILO constituents1 in the national discussion on climate change leaves much scope for improvement. It is recognized that commitment at the highest political level will be required to ensure that environmental policy debates can address the gender and social dimension more prominently and that employment promotion and job recovery policies can take a more environmentally sustainable path. The country’s Sixth Five Year Plan (2011-2015), will also include interventions relating to climate change as mentioned in the BCCSAP. The BCCSAP sets out six key areas of action including food security, disaster management, research and knowledge management, infrastructure, mitigation and low-carbon technology development. This is expected to be the outline for subsequent integration of climate change issues such as adaptation, technology transfer, low carbon development, and capacity building into the mainstream planning process.

Objectives

  • Promote awareness at national level amongst key partners from government, workers,employers, private sector, academia and civil society on green jobs and its potential in the Bangladesh
  • Facilitate dissemination of information on Green Jobs in Bangladesh
  • Share experiences of first phase of green jobs promotion in Bangladesh, and current initiatives with national stakeholders in various sectors.
  • Identify existing government policies and ILO green jobs initiative that could support expansion of Green Jobs
  • Identify roles of the constituents and social partners