http://www.world-psi.org/en/climate-agreement-ratified-paris Some call it an historic agreement, the
first time all nations commit to actions to deal with the threats of
climate change. The Kyoto Protocol only committed a specific group of nations to act. Others call it a sell-out, where
governments have bowed to pressure from the corporate fossil fuels lobby, with
goals that will once again postpone the painful actions needed to move us to
low or zero carbon societies. Rosa Pavanelli, General Secretary of
Public Services International, says: “The Paris
Agreement is an important milestone, a victory for
diplomacy after too many years of defeats. We applaud the reference to
the 1.5° ceiling; the acknowledgement of common but differentiated
responsibilities; the funding for both mitigation and adaptation, and the
regular review processes.” Ms Pavanelli warns that the corporate
lobby will continue to pressure governments for policies that give priority to
protecting their profits: “In the first week of the COP 21, PSI released a
study showing that, at the same time in Geneva,
governments were secretly negotiating the energy annex of the Trade in Services
Agreement (TISA) which would exactly block countries from implementing policies
to keep fossil fuels in the ground. The corporate hypocrisy on climate
must be revealed and resisted. Local and national governments will need
new regulations, extra finance, dedicated staff, training in specific skills
and other tools to move us towards zero carbon societies. Some profits
will be threatened.” The labour movement fought valiantly to
have the concept of Just Transition included in the binding body of the
text. In the final agreement, just transition and decent work are
mentioned in the nonbinding preamble. “The road forward will not be easy,” says Ms.
Pavanelli. “Governments will really need to take the lead, quickly, and
at all levels: national, regional and local. The national commitments
tabled so far are not enough; we need to do more, now. Workers and trade
unions will have to accept their responsibilities, to be active in the
workplace, both for reducing carbon emissions and to prepare for the inevitable
climate extremes. We will also need to work in our communities to create
the political pressure needed to counter the neoliberal assault on everything
public, as we know that without public investment, no transition will be
possible.” PSI on
climate changeUN
climate change newsroom
Public
Services International is a global trade union federation representing 20 million working
women and men who deliver vital public services in 150 countries. PSI champions
human rights, advocates for social justice and promotes universal access to
quality public services. PSI works with the United Nations system and in
partnership with labour, civil society and other organisations.
Advice from PSI Media
Advice from PSI Media