Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA) Newsletter No. 49 – June 2023 and Guide to the IPCC Synthesis Report Parts A, B & C:
Introduction:
The Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA) came into existence as a result of funding from Battersea and Wandsworth TUC. The GJA was launched to promote skills training and job creation to meet the needs of Britain’s rapidly growing low carbon sectors and to green the whole economy. The transition to a low carbon and resource efficient economy can drive sustainable economic recovery and job creation in every part of the country as well as making existing jobs more secure. But this requires a more strategic national and local approach to deliver the workforce skills needed and to stimulate demand for clean energy and energy efficiency services.
The Greener Jobs Alliance liaises at a national and local level to build the broadest possible support for the policies, investment, partnerships and commitments needed to drive the transition to a low carbon economy.
The Greener Jobs Alliance liaises with training bodies, colleges, universities, employers, local and national Government, trade unions, housing associations, campaign and community groups – to build the policies, investment and partnerships needed to drive the transition to a low carbon economy.
GJA ‘Free’ Courses:
The GJA runs a number of ‘free’ courses on the environment for Trade Union Reps in different parts of the UK which have been attended by a number of CWU Reps with details published in the newsletter.
The GJA now offer three ‘on-line’ courses as follows:
1. Climate Change Awareness
This short introductory course is aimed at trade unionists and anyone wishing to develop their understanding of the issues around climate change. The course is divided into 4 modules. The modules contain background information, short videos, graphs and illustrations.
- Module 1: Climate Change Explained
- Module 2: International Responses
- Module 3: Trade Union Responses
- Module 4: Getting Involved
At the end of each section, there are references and links to additional materials if you want to go further. There are no formal tests and you can work through the materials at your own pace but there are optional quizzes to check your understanding at the end of modules 1, 2 and 3.
2. A Trade Union Guide to Just Transition
Social justice must be at the heart of the development of a net-zero carbon economy. The course covers:
- The meaning and history of the term just transition
- Why it should be a priority issue
- UK and international policies and case studies
- Ideas for developing an action plan
It is aimed at trade unionists and anyone wishing to improve their understanding of why just transition should be central to climate change policy.
3. Air Quality – a trade union issue
The following issues will be explored in this free online course. It is made up of 3 modules,
- Module 1: The Causes and Health Impacts of Air Pollution
- Module 2: The Law and Government Policy
- Module 3: Trade Union Responses and Campaigns
Link to GJA on-line Courses:https://greenerjobsalliance.co.uk/courses/
GJA Founder Graham Petersen:
The founder GJA Secretary and Newsletter editor was Graham Petersen who is well known to the CWU and has a long standing working relationship with the Union. He is a former TUC tutor and course designer who created safety reps training courses and the successful TUC Occupational Health & Safety Diploma Course. He was the head of the Trade Union Studies Centre at South Thames College before retirement from the post and has been a visitor and guest speaker at CWU events and meetings. After 30 editions, Graham stood down at the GJA AGM and handed over to Paul Atkin as newsletter editor and Tahir Latif as GJA Secretary. Graham remains a GJA Steering Group member and is now working part time for the Wales TUC having recently written a publication for them ‘Greener workplaces for a just transition – a Wales TUC toolkit for trade unionists’ which was circulated by the CWU Health, Safety and Environment Department.
Paul Atkin Editorial GJA Newsletter Issue 49 – ‘Editorial: “Justly Stop Oil!”:
Editor Paul Atkin Opens by making reference to the decision by the Labour Party to stop all new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea as being the right one which he adds will be popular. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – which was created to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments on climate change), has stated again and again that new oil and gas exploration is incompatible with sustaining a climate we can survive in. Paul states that there is no wriggle room on this and the consequence of a failure to take decisive action now is already coming back to bite us very hard. With 2030, just seven years away, the risk is that without drastic action, 2 billion people could be having to try to live in areas with an average ambient temperature of 29C which includes half the population of India. At 30C in the UK it is illegal to transport cattle. (The TUC policy is to call for the introduction of an upper limit on workplace temperature so that employers would be forced to act when the temperature inside reaches 24°C. It would mean that staff could be sent home and their employers prosecuted if temperatures at work hit 30°C or 27°C for those engaged in physically demanding work). Paul concludes that “Just Transition” bodies should be established through local authorities to set the framework for both practical measures like insulation, investment, public education and mobilisation that has to go with it, so this is a social as well as material transformation.
Contents GJA Newsletter 49:
- Editorial: Justly Stop Oil!
- How Just Transition can work
- Climate Justice in the North Sea
- Support Offshore Workers Strike Action
- Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan?
- Momentum Comment
- Just Transition and Collective Bargaining
- UCU Conference Motion: training for jobs to tackle the climate emergency
- Students taking climate action into their own hands
- First ever NEU Green Reps training
- More time off work for flight-free holidays
- Its Bike Week every week in Amsterdam
- Clean Air Day 15 June
- Making tomorrow: building a workers’ response to the climate crisis
What is a just transition?
A just transition seeks to ensure that the substantial benefits of a green economy transition are shared widely, while also supporting those who stand to lose economically – be they countries, regions, industries, communities, workers or consumers.
A rapid increase in the speed and scale of actions required to reduce the risks of climate change will create new economic opportunities.
Whilst a just transition is mainly based on environmental considerations, it is also shaped by other structural changes affecting labour markets, such as globalisation, labour-saving technologies and the shift to services.
A just transition is an integral part of many of the global commitments adopted by countries. The Paris Agreement acknowledges “the imperatives of a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs in accordance with nationally defined development priorities” and highlights the importance of workers in responding to climate change.
Furthermore, the just transition concept links to 14 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, explicitly drawing together SDGs 12 – climate action, 10 – reduced inequalities, 8 – decent work and economic growth, and 7 – affordable and clean energy.
Many countries have recognised the challenge that this transformation entails and are taking measures to protect those that are most vulnerable and affected by the changes, including across the EBRD regions.
- The European Union’s Just Transition Mechanism is integral to the EU’s Green Deal, targeted at ensuring “a fair transition to a climate-neutral economy, leaving no one behind” and aims to mobilise at least €150 billion over the period 2021-2027;
- The Solidarity and Just Transition Silesia Declaration signed by 50 countries at COP24, which states that: “a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs are crucial to ensure an effective and inclusive transition”;
- Climate Action for Jobs Initiative, co-led by the International Labour Organisation, Spain and Peru, with 46 countries committing to develop “national plans for a just transition and create decent green jobs”.
- The UNFCCC Gender Action plan, whereby parties to the UNFCCC have recognized the importance of involving women and men equally in the development and implementation of national climate policies that are gender-responsive.
Quote of the Month/Headline of the Month:
“Heavy rains in Canada offer relief from wildfires but could lead to flooding.”
The Guardian
Much more in the GJA Newsletter No 49 attached.
GJA Brief Guide to the IPCC Synthesis Report, Parts A, B & C
Also attached this month is GJA’s brief guide to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Synthesis Report. The IPPC was created to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments on climate change. The IPCC report finds that there is a more than 50% chance that the global temperature rise will reach or surpass 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) before 2040 across studied scenarios, and under a high-emissions pathway, specifically, the world may hit this threshold even sooner. It adds that more than three billion people live in areas that are “highly vulnerable” to climate change — people living in these regions were “15 times more likely to die from floods, droughts and storms than those living in regions with very low vulnerability”. The IPCC’s assessment warns we’re running out of time to keep to 1.5°, but we have all the tools we need to get on track for net zero in time. The IPCC’s recent reports have been dubbed a ‘code red for humanity’ and an ‘atlas of human suffering’. See the GJA brief guides to parts A, B & C of the latest IPCC report attached.
Attachments:
- GJA Newsletter No.49 for June
- GJA Brief Guide to the IPCC Synthesis Report, Part A
- GJA Brief Guide to the IPCC Synthesis Report, Part B
- GJA Brief Guide to the IPCC Synthesis Report, Part C
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
GJA – A brief guide to the IPCC Synthesis Report, Part A
GJA – A Brief Guide to the IPCC Synthesis Report, Part B
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 
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