UNEP and the International Labour Foundation for Sustainable Development (Sustainlabour), in partnership with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and its affiliates, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the World Health Organization (WHO), have started in May 2007 the implementation of a two-year project on “Strengthening trade union participation in international environmental processes” with the financial support of the Government of Spain
The overall objective of the project is to improve engagement of workers and trade unions in the development and implementation of environmental policy, e.g. at UNEP (including its GC/GMEF), MEAs, and other UN bodies.
The project focuses on:
- Increasing participation of workers and trade unions in international environmental consultations through capacity building, in particular on climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the need for alternative methods of production and just transition; and sound and sustainable management of chemicals;
- Strengthening the capacities of workers and trade unions to replicate/adapt case studies on environment in their workplaces and their communities; and
- Building the awareness of environmental issues among workers and trade unions.
The project will provide grounds for multi-stakeholders dialogue and lay the foundations for a conceptual framework on the inter-linkages between labour and the environment. It will contribute to the implementation of the resolutions adopted by the first Trade Union Assembly on Labour and the Environment (15-17 January 2006) and to launch environmental initiatives in the workplaces, in Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The project will be jointly implemented with workers and trade unions in order to build a greater ownership of the programme and guarantee sustainability in the longer term.
The primary target stakeholders group will be the trade unions and the workers they represent. These would include trade unions organized by country, by sector or by thematic area, and members of the International Trade Unions Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD and the Sustainlabour Foundation, and their affiliates.
Regular updates on the project will be posted on this web page.
For more information, please contact us at civil.society@unep.org |
