Social Justice and Trade Union statements at the PreCOP in Milano

By Gina Cortes Valderrama - Women Gender Climate, September 30, 2021

Thank you, my name is Gina Cortes Valderrama and I speak on behalf of five diverse rights-based constituencies- Women and Gender, Trade unions, Indigenous Peoples, Youth, the Climate Action Network, and Demand Climate Justice. We are speaking collectively to demand ambition, justice, and people-powered solutions. Together, we represent over 3000 organizations in more than 160 countries.

Let’s start with reality:

• In 2020, five years after Paris promised to uphold human rights in all climate actions, a record number of activists were murdered as they worked to protect the environment
  and land rights.
• The recent UNFCCC NDC synthesis report warns emissions will be 16 percent above the 2010 level by 2030 - even after the latest mitigation pledges -, while science tells us we need to halve emissions until then.
• In addition, according to the OECD figures, 2019 climate finance remained $20bn below the target for 2020. And it is virtually certain that the $100bn will not be met in 2021.
• In all circumstances, the connection between climate impacts and inequality are abundantly clear. These inequities are further exacerbated when a few rich nations have yet refused a TRIPS waiver and ensured vaccine equity with adequate support...

Read the entire text (PDF).

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author.