BWI releases 100 Climate Actions Report, calls for a low-carbon, job-creating future

Showcasing its wide range of actions to respond to the challenges and impacts of climate change, BWI released its “100 Actions on Climate Justice Report” on the occasion of its 5^th World Congress last October in Madrid, Spain. 

The report showed that BWI trade union affiliates from different regions across the world are engaged in various climate justice activities from workers’ protection, organising and training and coalition-building, to social dialogues and campaigns. BWI said that the report will aid its new “Strategic Plan” to make climate change and the just transition to a green economy as its top priorities.

BWI hoped that the report will contribute to the development of a comprehensive approach to ensure that national governments enable and facilitate a just transition, and that employers and financiers will take their fair share of responsibility of a transition that is both socially and environmentally just.

“Our members in the construction, building materials, wood, forestry and allied industries are critical in the shift towards a low-carbon and climate resilient world. Workers have a key role to play retrofitting and improving the energy-efficiency of buildings, expanding and maintaining sustainable forests and reducing the climate footprint of materials. They install clean energy infrastructure, strengthen the resilience of cities and towns, and rebuild when crises hit,” BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson explained. 

“Workers in the said industries are also experiencing the direct impacts of climate change, which will increase in number and severity. This includes exposure to heat, extreme weather events and forest fires. A growing number of BWI workers have migrated because of the impacts of climate change, and are supporting family members whose lives have been upturned by climate-related events,” Yuson added. 

Aside from the report, during its Congress, BWI passed resolutions that appealed to the sense of urgency of governments, employers and financial actors to actively engage workers and their unions as active partners in shaping a more sustainable and greener path forward. BWI said that workers and their unions must have strong voices in the development of “nationally-determined contributions” and other national and regional plans on climate change. 

Full Report    Executive Summary    Climate Action Videos