November 2010: The International Labour Organization (ILO) has released a technical brief titled “The Social and Decent Work Dimensions of a New Agreement on Climate Change,” which addresses the inter-relations between climate adaptation and mitigation measures and the promotion of the support and engagement of millions of employers and workers.

The brief underlines that these inter-relations have yet to translate into more coherent policies, and that the new global agreement on climate provides an opportunity to incorporate the employment dimension of measures to adapt to, and prevent dangerous climate change. It identifies the most relevant issues for policy coherence and ways in which this gap could be bridged, outlining: elements of a shared vision to be considered to turn the response to climate change into a development opportunity; ideas to be reflected for adaptation plans to enhance positive social and labor outcomes; key elements to effectively address mitigation needs in developed and developing countries and turn them into an opportunity for decent work; social parameters that should be assessed to identify potential measures to minimize the economic and social consequences of response measures; policy approaches and incentives to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) while favoring positive social and labor outcomes; ways of enhancing action on financing to achieve both environmental and decent work goals; ways in which enhanced action on technology can also address social needs; and how capacity building policies resulting from climate change measures can encompass environment and socioeconomic goals. [The Technical Brief]