Following the conference held on 9-10 December 2003 in Milan, The ETUC is calling for a truly European policy on climate change. Such a policy should acknowledge both the social and democratic dimension of the process, the need to take account of aspects associated with employment, the role of public investment, and the principle of solidarity with poor countries, and it should focus on energy efficiency and the development of alternative energy sources, as well as being accompanied by measures to adapt to the socio-economic impacts of climate change. The ETUC focuses its priorities on the 12 following points:

Implementing the Kyoto process: a social and democratic process
 1. The European trade union movement supported the EU’s ratification of the Kyoto Protocol because it is convinced that the Protocol constitutes a unique opportunity to make a coordinated, global transition to improve the environment and to boost employment and well-being. The underlying principles here are al about sharing the load equally between all sectors of the economy and with workers, the economic opportunities and responsibilities arising from the fight against climate change, and adapting to the consequences thereof.

 2. If the Kyoto objectives are to be implemented successfully, all parties, particularly workers and unions, must be involved. For not only distribution of income, but also working conditions and individuals’ education and training needs will be affected by this process. Workers need to be involved through social dialogue with their employers (from European level down to local, sectoral level), in European multinationals via works councils where these exist, in companies, in the workplace, and also through the sectoral committees of European Social Dialogue.

Maximising the benefits for employment, the environment and economic efficiency in Europe

 3. The absence of any employment-related considerations is a significant weakness in European policy implementing the Kyoto Protocol. It is crucial that the measures and policies contained in the European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) factor in the need to create sustainable, high-quality jobs by falling clearly into line with the Lisbon strategy, which includes, since the Göteborg Council, an environmental dimension.

 4. In this vein, both the Member States and the European Union need to play their part to the full in implementing the commitments made in the context of the Kyoto Protocol. To do this, they must systematically consider these commitments from the point of view of the required investment and their potential for creating jobs, and must pursue appropriate active public investment policies at both the national and European levels.

 5. The European Climate Change Programme should include a transition programme for workers in sectors and regions affected by measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), including especially training programmes. The ETUC calls upon the DG Environment and the DG Employment and Social Affairs to create a joint working group, in order to analyse the impact of the programme of reduction of greenhouse gas emission on employment levels, which should include the participation of ETUC representatives.

 6. Sizeable and sufficient public resources need to be mobilised to fund a European research and development policy that is redirected towards energy sources which have the potential to reduce greenhouse gases and energy efficiency.

 7. In its second ECCP progress report, the Commission highlighted the need for a thorough evaluation of the impact on greenhouse gas emissions of the liberalisation of the energy market in Europe. In this connection, the ETUC reiterates that the liberalisation process has prompted massive job losses arising from mergers and restructuring initiatives in the electricity industry aimed solely at generating short-term profit. However, these same considerations could discourage long-term investment in renewable energies and in energy-efficient technologies that are vital for achieving the Kyoto objectives and safeguarding the available supply. Moreover, the liberalisation of the electricity market could give an incentive to increased consumption, which would be incompatible with the obligations linked to climate change. The ETUC is calling for the generation and distribution of energy to be considered as a public service meeting planned, regulated European objectives that above all guarantees fair access to energy and the use of a certain level of renewable energy sources in power generation. The development of energy services geared towards the reduction of consumption should be supported.

Flexible mechanisms to promote sustainable employment and development

 8. The general principle supported by the ETUC with regard to the Kyoto Protocol’s flexible mechanisms (Joint implementation (JI), Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Emission allowance trading) is that such instruments must be transparent processes with clear procedures in which workforce representatives should be involved. Moreover, internal measures that would reduce emissions remain the priority for Member States. These Flexibility mechanisms should be considered as complementary. Therefore, the use of these mechanisms should represent only a limited part of Member States’ reduction commitments.

 9. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) must effectively channel economic resources towards renewable energies and good practice in the energy sector in third countries, and should definitely not promote relocation on the basis of worldwide competition between social and environmental protection systems. Moreover the projects implemented in the framework of the Clean Development Mechanism, should not be used by the Member States to attain the aimed percentage of the gross national product used for the development assistance between now and 2010. The Workforce representatives in the countries concerned (in Europe and the beneficiary countries alike) need to be informed and consulted during the process of adopting and implementing CDM initiatives, and their opinion should be a formal requirement for approval of projects by the CDM Executive Committee.

Boosting capacity to adapt to the foreseeable socio-economic effects of climate change

 10. Political resulting in the limiting emissions must be matched by a determination to see European societies adapt to the inevitable changes brought about by climate change. The additional knowledge, investment, and measures needed to avert the detrimental effects of global warming on workers in vulnerable sectors (agriculture and tourism), and on people whose situation is weakened by their health or because they are excluded must be carefully evaluated so as to prevent any drastic situations from arising, like those witnessed in some European countries in the summers of 2002 and 2003.

 11. The European Union must help third countries that are particularly exposed to the threats posed by global warming and which are vulnerable because they are poor to bear the burden of adapting. The European Union must actively promote the conclusion of international agreements on the effects of global warming, which - just as the Kyoto Protocol did in limiting emissions - would coordinate the efforts of individual countries on a global scale.

The roles of the institutions

 12. In the European Union, we propose that the Observatory on Industrial Change and the European Environment Agency be appointed to analyse the impact of climate change policies on strategic regions and sectors; we are calling for the Commission to suggest to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) be involved in the Kyoto process.