5 June 2017: Guy Ryder, the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), has released his report to the International Labour Conference that highlights the potential for greening of production to be “a powerful engine for decent work creation and strong and balanced growth and development.”

The report, titled ‘Work in a changing climate: the Green Initiative,’ aims to make a balanced assessment of what climate change mitigation and adaptation means for the world of work. It outlines the challenges and opportunities involved, and how the ILO can contribute to the just transition to environmental sustainability that will serve to advance both decent work opportunities for all and the protection of the planet.

The report features chapters on: decent work and climate change; challenges and opportunities; the Green Centenary Initiative; and the road ahead. It highlights linkages between the Sustainable Development Goals 8 (decent work and economic growth) and 13 (climate action).

The ILO report points to research findings suggesting that the impact of climate change responses on employment can be positive.

It notes that there is “a great deal of evidence” that the transition to an inclusive green economy can act as “a new engine for growth and a strong driver of decent work creation in developing, emerging and advanced economies.” The report further underlines that the challenge is “to ensure that the potential decent work dividend of the fight against climate change is indeed realized,” stressing that the transition can be “abrupt and damagingly disruptive” if unplanned. The report also points to research findings suggesting that the impact of climate change responses on employment can be positive, with “strong potential for job creation” in the agriculture, forestry, energy, recycling, building and transport sectors.

On the ILO Green Centenary Initiative, the report recalls that it was launched in 2013, and that its rationale was “to promote the considerable potential for creation of decent work associated with the transition to a low carbon sustainable development path and to minimize and manage the inevitable dislocation that will accompany it.”

The International Labour Conference sets the broad policies of the ILO and meets once a year in Geneva, Switzerland. The 106th International Labour Conference is taking place from 5-16 June 2017. [ILO Press Release] [UN Press Release] [Report Landing Page] [Work in a Changing Climate: The Green Initiative] [106th Session of the International Labour Conference Website]