Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA) Newsletter No. 55 – December 2023

Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA) Newsletter No. 55 – December 2023:

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 55 – Editorial: “COP that!”:

Focusing on COP28 (the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference of Parties) Editor Paul Atkin highlights the fact that this year’s COP has already thrown up a number of bizarre statements, from UK PM Rishi Sunak showing what a small figure he is by admitting that quote; “we’re not moving quickly or effectively enough” and “the costs of inaction are intolerable”, while claiming that “the UK is leading the charge” by the uniquely effective strategy of scrapping its most ambitious targets and going slower. Then we have the COP Chair Sultan Al Jabar claiming that “there is no science” requiring a phase out of fossil fuels; which shows that he hadn’t read his brief from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) telling him and the world that that’s exactly what’s needed. Paul concludes “The world is not safe in these people’s hands.”

Paul adds that when activist writer and journalist George Monbiot wrote “the fight against climate breakdown is not and never has been just a fight against environmental breakdown. It is also a fight against the great maldistribution of wealth and power that blights every aspect of life on planet Earth. Billionaires – even the more enlightened ones – are bad for us. We cannot afford to keep them” he put his finger on why the struggle to save ourselves from environmental collapse is a class struggle.

Paul concludes that in this GJA Newsletter 55, the GJA aims to develop the debate about how the labour movement can lead this struggle; from workplace organising to programmes for national government, to fighting for just transition at the COP; and includes a draft motion for Union’s to take up and develop this debate and action further in this year’s conference cycle.

Read the full editorial & Newsletter Edition 55 attached.

Contents GJA Newsletter 55:

• Editorial: COP that!
• Demonstrations 9 December
• Why workers and their unions must lead climate action
• Motion for Unions on Climate Change
• New jobs must be good and green
• COP Briefing
• ITUC Demands COP 28
• Just Transition Work Programme
• UNISON at the COP
• NEU COP action plans
• IEA Slams Fossil Fuel Industry
• UK failure to implement Article 12 of the Paris Agreement
• Military boot print Khem Rogally
• FOE calls for a ceasefire in Gaza
• Beyond Climate Fixes
• Clean air posters from Mums for Lungs
• New Rules
• Green Bites

Green Bites:

• 70% – Increase in in UK Solar Panel Installation in 2021 over 2020 and the first 6 months of 2022 saw installation rates doubling.
• 2024 – Will see China’s carbon emissions begin to fall, following record renewable energy investment.
• 40% – Drop in Electric Vehicle Battery Prices by 2025 – forecast by ‘Goldman Sachs’.
• 33% – Drop in UK flights would be needed by 2030 to hit ‘Net Zero’ targets.
• 0 (zero) – Measures to increase energy efficiency announced in the UK Chancellor’s autumn statement.

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 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, explicitly drawing together SDGs No 12 – climate action, No 10 – reduced inequalities, No 8 – decent work and economic growth, and No 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 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (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

“Most of the climate victims, whose number will increase in billions, will be in countries that do not emit at all or emit very little CO2. Without transfers of wealth from the North to the South, climate victims will have less water in their habitats and will move towards the North, where melting ice will allow fresh water. The exodus will involve billions. This immense exodus will have a response in the North. We are already seeing it in the anti-immigration policies of rich countries and the rise of the extreme right within them. Hitler is knocking on the European and American middle-class homes’ doors and many are letting him in. The exodus will be responded to with a lot of violence and barbarism. What we are seeing in Gaza is a rehearsal of the future.”

Gustavo Petro President of Columbia: Speech at COP 28

Much more in the GJA Newsletter No 55 December attached.

Attachment: 

• GJA Newsletter No.55 for December 2023.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

23LTB338 Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA) Newsletter No. 55 – December 2023

GJA-Newsletter-55-December-2023

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