06/22/2012 - The world has come to Rio de Janeiro to take stock of our planet’s environment and identify the road forward to a sustainable future. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development is referred to as Rio+20 because 20 years ago the original conference in Rio focused global attention on the environment. It spawned the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and the three pillars of U.N. activity on climate change, biological diversity and forestry principles.
The trade union movement is here in force. The Rio de Janeiro International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) delegation is the third largest delegation. More than 700 ITUC members participated in a Trade Union Congress and the civil society People’s Summit that preceded the formal conference.
The unions came to deliver a message to the governments of the world—there is a sustainable future if we make it so. The efforts here build off of ITUC work on climate change, where we promoted a just transition with goals for good jobs, investment in modernizing industry and new technology, training and assistance for those most in need.
Today, speaking at a high-level meeting, Sharan Burrow, the general secretary of the ITUC, told government officials that the Rio+20 “needs to create a fourth pillar for the environment—one that recognizes the human and social dimensions. There are no jobs on a dead planet.” read more>>>
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