The ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, opened the second edition of the UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) Academy on the Green Economy, which is taking place at the International Training Centre of the ILO (ITCILO), Turin, from 3 to 14 October. He stressed, “Decent work is both a means and an end in the context of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There is growing recognition that climate change and its potential impact on businesses and workers could reverse the economic and social progress achieved over decades - and compromise the ability to reach many of the SDGs.”

 
The Minister of Labour and Social Security from Barbados, Dr. Esther Byer Suckoo, in her keynote speech reinforced this remark by stating "Development cannot be sustainable, if it is at the expense of someone else. It has to be equitable, all have to be involved and all have to benefit from it". She went on to add ”Goal 8 puts the development of people and families at the heart of Sustainable Development".

The High Level Policy Dialogue on the theme The Future of Work in the Transition to Inclusive Green Economies opened the Academy, presenting recent policy outcomes as well as new research results and inputs developed by research institutions such as the Club of Rome, the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and McKinsey.

Discussions highlighted that the impacts of climate change are differential across the planet and that many highly resource dependent jobs are at stake. Yet, a myriad of examples of circular and green business models exist globally across sectors that can be replicated and adapted to different local contexts. But of course, policies and incentives matter to unleash such potential and support their financing. The role of skills development and vocational training is key to equip youth and prepare the labour market for such a transition given that 600 million jobs will also need to be created over the next decades.

Recognizing the significance of employment and distributional impact in the transition to greener economies and the need to ensure a fair transition for enterprises, workers and communities, the outcomes of this policy dialogue will contribute to the ILO’s Future of Work Initiative.

A Knowledge Fair on Inclusive Green Economy Solutions followed on 4 October. It provided the opportunity to share and discuss practical tools and best practices at country and global levels, and to benefit from each other’s experience while developing new strategies for environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive economies. 

The two-day event concluded by emphasising the importance of partnerships to foster shared knowledge and promote joint action for effective strategies.

The event brought more than 150 participants together from over 35 countries. Ministers and high-level decision makers from low-income, emerging and industrialized countries, together with representatives from the private sector, the civil society and workers’ organizations, will join senior management officials from the ILO, other PAGE Agencies (UNEP, UNIDO, UNDP and UNITAR) and national partners.

Organized within the framework of PAGE, this two-week learning event is meant to solidify current knowledge and foster an exchange of practices among countries and organizations to build environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive economies.