UN Division for Sustainable Development

Case Study Detail Record

Organization type:	Major Groups

Submitting organization:

Affiliation:	- Workers and trade unions

Initiative Title:	Supportive Government Framework Allows for Trade Union Input into Kyoto Mechanisms

Internet links:

Scope:	National: - Belgium

Status:	Ongoing

Timeframe:	Start: End:

Lead Institution:	Belgian government

Stakeholders/Partners:	Belgian government, Beglian trade unions, Belgian companies, industrial workers particularly in developing countries

Relevent issues:	- Adaptation - Technology innovations and transfer - Promoting industrial development: framework conditions

Objectives/Challenges:

• Ensure that projects funded under flexibility mechanisms to meet Kyoto commitments are socially and environmentally responsible
• Increase compliance with ILO labour standards
• Involve all affected communities in implementing projects

Policy Options:

• Fund projects under Kyoto’s flexibility mechanisms with conditions to ensure that they are socially and environmentally responsible and ensure the participation of affected communities

Summary:

A decision by the Government of Belguim in July 2005 ensures that social and sustainability criteria are considered when funding ‘flexible mechanisms’ for meeting its Kyoto commitments. It has instituted a tendering strategy that involves trade unions in monitoring investments, specifically to ensure compliance with the principles of the relevant ILO conventions. A call for submissions issued from a technical committee comprised of government, employers, NGOs and trade unions make social criteria a prerequisite for approving projects and follow-up procedures to ensure that they benefit development in the local communities. To ensure a balance between economic, environmental and social criteria, project documentation must include a letter of social responsibility, in which the project promoter(s) pledge(s) to respect the principles of the OECD’s guidelines for multinationals, the eight ILO basic conventions, Convention 155 on Occupational Health and Safety, and Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. Social sustainability evaluation criteria include such areas as employment (including quality of employment and compliance with labour standards), equality, and access to essential services such as energy services. Economic sustainability includes employment and skills development. Finally, promoters must ensure involvement of all affected organizations to ensure the project is implemented properly, including free and democratic local trade unions or an international trade union organization, local or international environmental organizations, and local and indigenous communities.