BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 26. COP29 Presidency's active support is needed to fulfill commitments to protect labor rights, Deputy General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Eric Mwezi Manzi said at an international conference on “Climate Change and Just Transition: The Role and Actions of Trade Unions” in Baku today, Trend reports.
"At last year’s COP28 Climate Conference, countries adopted the Just Transition Program. This is an important step forward, placing labor at the center of climate policy. For us, this program is not just a document for climate negotiators from the countries that signed the Paris Agreement.
It's the result of social dialogues that involved social partners, including trade unions, in discussing climate measures. Social protection has become a key element of the just transition, including measures such as unemployment benefits and health insurance for all those affected by climate change or climate measures themselves," he explained.
According to him, the issue of recognizing labor rights is equally important.
"They guarantee workers' freedom of association in trade unions, the right to collective bargaining, and other fundamental labor rights established by the International Labour Organization (ILO). For the first time, fundamental labor rights were mentioned in UN climate negotiations - this is a milestone for everyone interested in protecting workers' rights.
We must build on this achievement, implement it in practice, and remind countries of their obligations to protect labor rights. We need new social partners, and I hope to contribute to this process. It was encouraging that the COP29 President mentioned labor rights in his video message at the opening of the conference.
We need active support from the COP29 Presidency to fulfill these commitments. We aim for all countries to integrate the principles and measures of a just transition into their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Next year, when countries are expected to update their NDCs, governments must consult with trade unions to assess the social impact of climate policies, address job losses, skill development, and other important aspects," he added.
This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 70–80,000 foreign guests.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. COP—the Conference of the Parties—is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Germany's Berlin, with its secretariat in Bonn.
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