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Mayors and Union Leaders Unite for Climate Action: Call to Action for a Green and Just Recovery

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Mayors and union leaders from around the world have come together to pledge their commitment to a decade of action focused on creating good quality jobs, tackling inequality, and raising international climate ambition ahead of the COP26 conference in November. The Call to Action, launched by C40 Cities and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), outlines a common response to the climate crisis that prioritizes a just transition, new skills, social equity, tackling inequality, new partnerships, and new investment. Signatories to the Call to Action include mayors and leaders from cities such as Los Angeles, Glasgow, Accra, and London, as well as the General Secretary of ITUC.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Call to Action aims to create good quality jobs for all, with a focus on delivering a just transition and supporting workers who lose jobs in polluting sectors to find new and better opportunities.
  • Mayors and union leaders pledge to ensure that people are educated and trained in the skills they will need for the future, working together with workers, business, and academia to nurture the skills people need to access good jobs.
  • The Call to Action prioritizes social equity, ensuring that the transition leaves no one behind by providing social protection and affordable access to essential public services, especially to frontline communities.
  • Mayors and union leaders aim to tackle long-standing inequalities by addressing energy poverty, improving air quality, and investing in resilient city infrastructure.
  • The Call to Action urges national governments, civil society, businesses, investors, and international institutions to match the level of ambition and inclusive climate action seen in cities.
  • Mayors pledge to accelerate efforts to recruit as many as 1,000 cities around the world to deliver inclusive climate action plans consistent with constraining global temperature rise to 1.5°C set out in the Paris Agreement.

Statistics:

  • 13 mayors and union leaders from around the world have signed the Call to Action, including the Leader of Glasgow City Council, Cllr Susan Aitken, and the General Secretary of ITUC, Sharan Burrow.
  • 1,000 cities around the world are expected to be recruited to deliver inclusive climate action plans consistent with constraining global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
  • The Call to Action aims to create good quality jobs for all, with a focus on delivering a just transition and supporting workers who lose jobs in polluting sectors to find new and better opportunities.
  • Mayors and union leaders pledge to invest in resilient city infrastructure, including affordable access to essential public services such as mass transit, water, and sanitation.
  • The Call to Action prioritizes social equity, ensuring that the transition leaves no one behind by providing social protection and affordable access to essential public services, especially to frontline communities.

Sources:

  • C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
  • International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
  • Bloomberg Philanthropies
  • Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)
  • Realdania

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