The 28th United Nations Climate Conference (COP28) begins its proceedings this Thursday, November 30, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for about fifteen days. This edition marks a significant turning point as nations will assess their commitments since the ratification of the Paris Agreement in 2015, with the goal of containing global warming to a maximum of +1.5°C, or even 2°C. Among the key points of this summit is the concrete realization of the fund established during the previous COP 27 in Egypt, specifically designed to address the “losses and damages” suffered by the most vulnerable nations in the face of climate disasters, those historically less responsible for global warming.
The architect of the Paris Agreement, Laurence Tubiana, has advocated on X for governments to adopt a strategy aiming to “rapidly eliminate all uncompensated fossil fuel emissions” through CO2 capture technologies. This proposal does not advocate for a total and unconditional exit from fossil fuels, contrary to the demand of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In addition to this recommendation, Tubiana emphasizes the importance for countries to take decisive measures to assist the most impoverished nations in facing financial burdens related to the fight against climate change and its adaptation. She insists on the urgent need to mobilize financial resources, a necessary condition to effectively act in favour of the climate.
On the occasion of the opening of these proceedings, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Arab Trade Union Confederation (ATUC) call for giving paramount importance to the creation and adoption of a dedicated program for a just transition. This program aims to place labour issues at the centre of political discussions on climate. This requires ensuring the respect for human and labour rights while promoting inclusive participation in the development of climate policies, strengthening goals to reduce the effects of climate change by creating quality jobs through fair transition measures, addressing adaptation imperatives by implementing social protection mechanisms and robust financial mechanisms, and ensuring funding for losses and damages while substantially investing in this just transition, all of which appear as imperatives for these trade union organizations.
For the Arab region, the ATUC has emphasized the importance of adapting social protection systems to the imperatives of climate change. In its position paper, the ATUC explains that over 4 billion people worldwide lack any form of social protection or social care, creating an urgent need for primary healthcare, unemployment benefits, and protection benefits to counter the impact of the climate crisis threatening their livelihoods. It urges the establishment of programs to create 400 million jobs, the modernization and globalization of social protection systems, considered key elements of a just transition program. The organization urges governments to explicitly include national comprehensive social protection plans in the resolutions of COP 28, in line with commitments made at the Sharm El Sheikh and Glasgow conferences on the global adaptation goal.
العربية 
English