We must handle our planet with care if we want future generations to have a place where they can live and enjoy a good quality of life. While this goal is widely accepted in the EU, a glance at the cumbersome implementation of the measures to reach it shows the presence of two main hurdles: on the one hand, there is a lack of determination in introducing the necessary structural change in the currently prevailing economic system and consumer behaviour, on the other hand, there is a lack of social dialogue, which is indispensable for making the transformation process socially fair and sustainable. More attention must be paid to this issue. This was the conclusion of the international conference entitled "Climate protection and the world of work – how social is the Green Deal?" organised by the association Arbeiter-, Freizeit- und Bildungsverein (AFB) and the European Centre for Workers' Questions (EZA) on 20 and 21 May 2022 in Brixen /Bressanone (Italy).
Over 70 representatives of workers’ organisations from South Tyrol/Italy, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, Bulgaria, Serbia, Portugal and Poland attended the conference, funded by the European Union.
Experts and representatives of trade unions and other workers' organisations discussed the economic, employment and social risks posed by the ongoing change. Adopted in 2015, the UN’s forward-looking 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has contributed to raising people's awareness of ecological issues worldwide. Many scientific studies focusing on individual countries or regions, and especially the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), have evidenced that a radical reorientation of the economic system is the only way to tackle climate change. So far, the international community has been able to manage the consequences of climate change so as to avoid irreparable damage to human habitats and the ecological balance. However, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine are hampering both the reform efforts of EU countries and the willingness of companies to innovate. It is primarily up to the individual countries to draw up restructuring programmes for the manufacturing, construction, energy, transport and agricultural sectors which are environment-friendly and comply with the targets set by the EU Green Deal. Citizens must be prepared to change their consumption habits and consider new criteria for economic prosperity.
Trade unions support the EU's goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by the year 2030 and to aim for climate neutrality of the EU economy by 2050. They demand that the pledge made by the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen to "leave no one behind" be fulfilled. To achieve that, there must be more transparency and co-decision in the design of the transition process and the use of the EU funds, starting with the Just Transition Fund. So far, little attention has been paid to the trade unions’ proposal to set up national and regional “transformation councils” and use a structured trialogue to help build consensus around solutions and shape the different stages of structural change (Just Transition) in the manufacturing, construction, energy, transport and agriculture sectors.
In the upcoming process of social reorientation, politics must not lose sight of ecological objectives and should encourage solutions that enable the burden of the “green transformation” of the economic and consumption system to be carried fairly. Pressure from the lobbies and a major loss of confidence among the population are making it difficult to meet these demands. The trade unions are calling on politicians to implement the Green Deal in a faster and more determined fashion. In their role as representatives of the interests of a large part of the population, trade unions are an important partner for politicians in identifying solutions that can be widely supported.
A balance must be struck between the pursuit of profit, ecological consideration and social security to prevent workers and vulnerable groups in society from losing out altogether. To govern the presumably long transition phase, trade unions are advocating income guarantees and social plans as well as vocational retraining measures and initiatives to preserve the employability of workers who might lose their jobs due to the transition to new production sectors and technologies. New training paths are needed to equip young people with the skills they will need in the future. Finally, trade unions are demanding social shock absorbers for people who are unable to find employment due to a mismatch between the professional qualifications they acquired in the past and the current job offer, as well as support in the event that a lack of jobs at the local level requires greater mobility. Tax policy, too, should be used as a key instrument for steering society towards an eco-friendly transformation process.
For those who can’t adapt to change and, in general, for socially disadvantaged people and those with an income below the poverty line, an adequate minimum income as well as affordable housing and energy supply must be guaranteed. It should be noted however, that there is still some unfinished business from the economic restructuring process of the 1990s which goes together with a dismantling of social protection mechanisms and weaker co-determination rights. In the absence of appropriate agreements between the social partners involved in collective bargaining, the proletarianisation of workers and the creeping dismantling of social security systems are likely to worsen. First and foremost, the precarisation of employment contracts must be prevented: work must guarantee a decent wage and an adequate pension. Flexible regulations are urgently needed to improve the work-life balance. The social partners must develop a stronger dynamic so that, during the transition, workers can count on equal participation in the co-determination process.
Finally, the establishment of an additional fund is advocated which should support schemes to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, equip them with environmentally sound technologies and mitigate energy poverty. These measures should primarily benefit households at risk of poverty and micro-enterprises, taking into account also the needs in rural areas.
Companies must be encouraged to take social responsibility for the welfare and employment security of their employees, for example through corporate social benefits, social plans in case of restructuring, facilitation of further training and equal treatment of permanent and temporary workers. Mere profit maximisation should cease to be the central paradigm of entrepreneurial activity: profit must be combined with environmental and social responsibility. Already 50 years ago, the Club of Rome presented a ground-breaking study on the limits to growth, with forecasts of what an economic system geared solely to profit maximisation could look like. In the intervening years those data have never been taken seriously and also ecological alarm bells have gone unheeded. Under these conditions, people fear that neither now nor in the coming years will the right course of action be initiated. It is therefore essential that trade unions make their voices heard in this transitional period, so that responsible and future-oriented decisions may be made.