the need to play a proactive role while shaping a sustainable future for Europe and its workers

The Long-term GHG Emission Reduction Strategy will be published on 28 November 2018, just ahead of the COP24 in Katowice. It replaces the Energy Roadmap 2050 from 2011, taking into account new realities: The Paris Agreement from 2015 according to which parties strive to limit global warming to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to achieve 1.5°C. Moreover, prices for renewable energies have fallen faster than expected in recent years. The Long-term Strategy will present different scenarios for a greenhouse gas emission reduction by 2050 that will spark a debate at European level on the new EU ambition towards mitigating climate change.

The meeting with VP Sefcovic was one in a series of meetings addressing the implementation of the EU Energy Union. industriAll was part of the ETUC delegation, next to EPSU and ETF. The employers were represented by BusinessEurope, CEEP and UEAPME.

industriAll made its message clear: as trade unions we cannot ignore the urgency with regard to climate change and the need to play a proactive role while shaping a sustainable future for Europe and its workers. Deep decarbonisation poses a challenge to many of our sectors, especially the energy sector, energy-intensive sectors and the automotive sector. Enormous investments are needed for research and innovation and the development of breakthrough technologies. At the same time, industrial sectors and its workers are part of the solution, as they are the ones that deliver the low-carbon, breakthrough solutions that are needed for a deep decarbonisation of industries.

“A comprehensive policy framework needs to integrate a proactive sustainable policy that delivers on framework conditions for investments in Europe, especially in carbon-dependent regions that will be impacted most”, said Luc Triangle, General Secretary of industriAll Europe. “A Just Transition can only happen if workers see that Just Transition is translated into real policies and finds a solution for each worker and creating new quality employment in Europe.”

The meeting coincided with the adoption of our joint Declaration with IndustriALL Global Union addressing the COP24 by the industriAll Europe Executive Committee. industriAll Europe will use this paper as a basis for its work and will promote a Just Transition for workers during COP24 in Katowice.

contact: Guido Nelissen; Corinna Zierold