Climate Jobs for New York State

J. Mijin Cha and Lara Skinner write: “New York State can and should act now to protect New Yorkers from the worst impacts of climate change while also addressing growing economic inequality. An ambitious and audacious Climate Jobs agenda creates good, high-road jobs for communities across the state and drastically reduces greenhouse gas pollution. By adopting a Climate Jobs agenda, New York will lead the country and chart the way to a low-carbon, equitable economy.”

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About This Report

In Fall 2015, The Worker Institute at Cornell convened the Labor Leading on Climate research, education and policy initiative. This New York State-based initiative brings together unions, workers’ organizations and policy experts to develop job creation and economic development strategies to drastically reduce greenhouse gas pollution and confront the climate crisis.

The final recommendations and full report from this initiative will be released in spring 2016. The full report will be accompanied by a training curriculum on climate change for unions and worker organizations. For more information about this initiative or to request the final report when it’s released, please contact Lara Skinner at lrs95@cornell.edu.

Summary of Recommendations

• Building Sector
  • Retrofit all public schools across the state to reach 100 percent of their energy efficiency potential by 2025
  • Reduce energy use in all public buildings by 40 percent by 2025
  • Streamline and expand access to residential retrofit programs
• Transportation Sector
  • Bring NYC Public Transit to a state of good repair and expand service
  • Construct and improve Adirondack and Empire high-speed passenger rail corridor between Albany and Buffalo, and between Albany and Montreal
  • Establish a Bus Rapid Transit Program in New York State
• Energy Sector
  • Install 3 GW of solar energy on 100 million square feet of public school rooftops through the New York Power Authority by 2025
  • Install an additional 1GW of solar projects through the New York Power Authority, the publicly-owned power utility
  • Install 7.5 GW of  Off-Shore Wind by 2050 through the New York Power Authority
• New York State “Just Transition” Task Force

This initiative is possible because of the support of the State of New York. The opinions, findings and/or interpretations of data contained herein are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions, interpretations or policy of the State of New York or of the ILR School, Cornell University.

#klimajobber – update on climate jobs in Norway

Andreas Ytterstad writes: The demand for 100 000 climate jobs is a demand that is slowly, but surely, becoming central to the broad Norwegian Climate movement. The Climate Election Alliance, which consists of 58 Civil Society Organizations in Norway, recently adopted “Create a Just Transition – 100 000 climate jobs now” as one of its demands http://www.klimavalgalliansen.no/?page_id=36.

The Norwegian Children and Youth Council (info in English here) made a resolution in the fall of 2015 which bares witness to the key thoughts behind the demand for 100 000 climate jobs: “Norway has a historical, economic and moral responsibility to lead the transition from fossil to renewable energy and for broad investments in climate jobs in all parts of the development of industry.” http://www.lnu.no/politikk/resolusjoner/barne-og-ungdomstinget-2015/

It is the alliance and conference called Bridge to the Future, which more than anybody else has contributed to an understanding that “In order to have a renewable Norway we need popular mobilization without parallel. The fight for climate jobs and green workplaces is the bridge. A bridge between the immediate needs most people have, for good, safe jobs – and the needs all living things have to reduce emission of greenhouse gases.” (Ytterstad 2013).  The May Day parades in Norway has had the demand for 100 000 climate jobs as one of the official demands, particularly in Oslo, for the last couple of years.

The Bridge to the future Conference has grown every year, from 350 in 2014 to almost 600 in 2016. Before the 2015 Conference, 10 000 people signed a petition demanding “Put a brake on Norwegian Oil – 100 000 climate jobs now”. At the 2016 Conference, representatives from the trade unions, the Norwegian Church and the environmental unions handed over common demands to the Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg. The three key demands were for climate justice and 100 000 climate jobs, and no oil drilling in the Arctic. (press release from the Norwegian Church here: https://kirken.no/nb-NO/om-kirken/aktuelt/erna-solberg-mottar-klimakrav/.)

The same three demands are also highlighted in a series of demonstrations planned up until the next General Election in Norway in September 2017, called “Turning Point.” This initiative is also supported by unions, peasant associations and faith societies, including the Islamic Council of Norway.

So the demand for climate jobs is going to be voiced several times over the next year.

Check out the website for Bridge to the future here Broentilframtiden.com.

May Day in Oslo

Here is the Norwegian campaign Bridge to the Future marching for 100,000 climate jobs (Klimajobber) as part of the May Day march in Oslo yesterday.  And here is video they did for the march, in Norwegian and English:

 

Livrete da Campanha pelos Empregos Climáticos

Climate March, Toronto, 2015.

[from https://climaximo.wordpress.com/] Temos de travar as alterações climáticas e temos de o fazer agora. Para isso vão ser precisos 150 milhões de novos empregos a nível mundial, com a duração de pelo menos 20 anos.

Atualmente existem campanhas em vários países que lutam por programas governamentais massivos de criação de empregos climáticos. A maioria começou com o apoio de sindicatos e todos estão a tentar construir uma aliança entre sindicatos, organizações ambientalistas, ONGs e organizações religiosas.

A primeira parte desta publicação explica de forma sucinta a ideia dos empregos climáticos, tal como é apresentada no livrete “Global Climate Jobs”. A segunda parte analisa e explica o contexto português em traços gerais, nomeadamente em relação ao clima, ao emprego, e às políticas no domínio das alterações climáticas.

Este é um trabalho em progresso. À medida que o movimento for crescendo, novos dados e estudos serão incluídos em versões melhoradas deste livrete.

Livrete disponível aqui: empregos-climaticos-em-portugal-livrete

 

Video: Som helt fersk klimakunnskapsminister / A rookie climate change minister

Youth organisations in Norway have made a campaign video for Climate Jobs. A new Fictional Climate and Knowledge Minister has been put to the task of creating 100,000 Climate Jobs. (It’s still fun to watch if you don’t speak Norwegian.)

Se første episode av serien om meg! Som helt fersk klimakunnskapsminister er det mye å ta tak i for å få fart på det grønne skiftet. Titusenvis av folk mister jobben i oljebransjen, og jeg må finne ut av hva vi skal leve av etter olja. Og selvfølgelig tester jeg framtidas klimajobber

One Million Climate Jobs: A Challenge for Canadians

 

 

 

 

In Canada, an alliance of unions, with environment, youth, public interest, faith-based organizations and First Nations are working together through the Green Economy Network to put these principles to practice, by calling for “one million climate jobs” in Canada within the next five years.

Un million d’emplois verts: Défi pour les Canadiens et les Canadiennes

Quebec. April 2015

Au Canada, une alliance de groupes syndicaux, écologistes, confessionnels, de jeunesse, de défense de l’intérêt public et de membres des Premières nations s’est formée sous le nom de Réseau pour une économie verte afin de mettre en pratique les principes en question en incitant à la création d’un million d’emplois verts au Canada d’ici cinq ans.

Empregos Climáticos

[Reposted from the website of Climaximo in Portugal at https://climaximo.wordpress.com/]

Como grupo de ativismo climático, o Climáximo quer lutar e envolver as pessoas na luta por uma mudança de sistema. Numa perspetiva “para além da COP-21” e focada em soluções de base, decidimos tomar como estratégia a médio-longo prazo uma campanha de Empregos Climáticos em Portugal.

Esta campanha visa a criação de emprego público estável em setores-chave com vista a reduzir as emissões de gases de efeito de estufa.

É uma proposta política fundamentada em análise científica, e uma das mais relevantes para o contexto social e político português.

After Paris – A Global Movement for Climate Jobs

climate protest, Paris, 12 December

This post looks at the results of the Paris climate talks, and says what the climate movement and the social movements need to do next, how climate jobs fit into that, and what you can do to help build a campaign for climate jobs in your country.

Corbyn and Klein on Climate Jobs

Jonathan Neale writes: Last night in Paris Jeremy Corbyn and Naomi Klein spoke to 800 people about trade unions and climate change. For me, the best moment was when Jeremy started his speech by saying ‘I want to hold this document up. It’s called One Million Climate Jobs’.

The meeting was sponsored by Trade Unions for Energy Democracy and the Global Climate Jobs Campaigns. This video from the ever wonderful Reelnews is 15 minutes of highlights of the meeting. From 8.56 to 12.40 you can hear Jeremy Corbyn, Clara Paillard of the climate jobs campaign in the UK, and Josua Mata of the climate jobs campaign in the Philippines, talking about climate jobs. And from 14.20 on is Jeremy’s powerful summing up.