By Joan Nwagwu
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has called for accelerated global action on climate goals and a just transition framework to protect workers and vulnerable communities.
This is contained in a statement issued on Friday by Ms Boitumelo Molete, Social Development Policy Coordinator of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), who spoke on behalf of the ITUC.
Molete disclosed this at the conclusion of the 64th Session of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB64) climate negotiations held in Bonn, Germany, ahead of COP31.
She expressed concerns over the outcomes of the meeting, saying workers and trade unions were disappointed by the pace of progress toward implementing the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Molete said delegates had failed to demonstrate sufficient urgency in addressing the climate emergency and its growing impact on workers and vulnerable communities.
“We have some serious questions after nearly two weeks in Bonn. How are you delivering on the objectives of the Paris Agreement to keep the climate emergency under control?” she asked.
She said trade unions had not seen the commitment to action required to protect workers suffering from heat stress and families awaiting decent jobs promised under transition programmes.
According to her, climate impacts were already affecting workers and communities across many countries, requiring urgent and coordinated responses from governments and stakeholders.
“We don’t see the urgency to respond to the workers that are dying from heat stress or to their families lacking the decent jobs promised in the transition,” she said.
Molete criticised what she described as the dismantling of the Mitigation Work Programme, saying it remained central to global climate action and emissions reduction efforts.
She also expressed concern over inadequate commitments to finance adaptation measures, noting that adaptation policies would remain ineffective without sufficient financial support.
“We see no commitment to finance adaptation, which makes all adaptation policies meaningless. We also saw a disturbing lack of urgency in the just transition work,” she said.
Molete said discussions in Bonn focused excessively on procedural issues rather than concrete steps toward establishing a Just Transition Mechanism.
According to her, negotiators spent valuable time debating terms of reference for evaluating the Just Transition Work Programme instead of advancing implementation measures.
“We wasted two weeks talking about terms of reference for evaluation when we should be finding common ground and agreement on setting up the mechanism,” she said.
Molete reminded delegates that commitments made in Belem required progress towards creating practical structures capable of delivering equitable transition outcomes.
She called on governments and stakeholders to substantially increase efforts before COP31 and ensure meaningful progress on climate action and social justice.
“At COP31, we need the Belem Antalya Mechanism for Just Transition that delivers for workers, indigenous peoples, women, children and youth,” she said.
She added that trade unions remained ready to contribute to intersessional work necessary for achieving concrete outcomes and strengthening confidence in the multilateral climate process.
“There will be no just transition without peace and human rights. Labour rights are human rights, and they must remain central to climate policies,” she said.