Brent Trades Council MOTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

 

MOTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Brent Trades Council notes:

1.Ongoing extreme weather events across the globe which have been exacerbated by climate breakdown: heat waves, wildfires, floods and hurricanes.
2. The 2018 IPCC report which warned of the dire consequences of exceeding 1.5C global average warming and that a societal transformation would be needed to avoid this, halving global carbon emissions by 2030; that despite this, global emissions have continued to rise.
3. That the climate crisis is a social justice issue, with those who have done least to cause the crisis facing the worst impacts.
4. That wealthy, industrialised countries have a responsibility to take on their fair share of emissions reductions; that the UK's target of net zero by 2050 is insufficient, and that the UK government is failing to implement policies to meet even this target.
5. That we also face a global and UK crisis of unemployment; that the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic represents an opportunity to invest in climate jobs, a just transformation and a fairer society; and that this opportunity has not been taken.
6. That the UN COP26 negotiations in Glasgow in November 2021 are crucial for the global response to climate change.
7. That UK civil society needs to exert maximum pressure on the government in the coming year for a green recovery and just transition in the UK, and to show leadership as COP26 host; that trade unions can play a key role in the COP26 coalition in which UK civil society has been organising as part of the wider global climate justice movement.

This (union branch) resolves:
1. To campaign, alongside allies in civil society for massive public investment in a green recovery that tackles the climate and ecological emergency, creates climate jobs and is underpinned by a fair deal for workers both here and in supply chains in the Global South.
2. To join the national mobilisations for protests during the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November 2021.
3. To send a delegation to Glasgow / To donate towards the costs of trade union transport to Glasgow / To donate towards the costs of members wishing to join protests in Glasgow.
4. To send this motion to our regional and national organisation.