Climate action and just transition
Climate change is accelerating. The triple planetary crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – are significantly exacerbating inequalities, both between and within countries.
Action to tackle climate change is an existential need but must also be socially just. Through our engagement in the OECD’s climate and environmental policy, TUAC is working to make the case for a just transition, advocating for policies that create more and better jobs in the move to a net zero emissions economy, and the active involvement of workers and unions in managing climate action.
TUAC’s work in this area is led by Martin Denis. For more information, please contact denis@tuac.org.
Trade Unions Call for Worker-Focused Economic Reform at OECD Ministerial Council Meeting
Trade unions engaged directly with OECD governments at the 2025 Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) in Paris this week, advocating for worker-centered approaches to trade, technology, and climate policies amid persistent inequality concerns. TUAC delivered a comprehensive alternative vision in its ...
Trade Unions Welcome Just Transition Progress in OECD Climate Report, But Warn Collective Bargaining Must be at the Centre
Trade unions have welcomed this week’s publication of the OECD’s ‘Fast-tracking Net Zero by Building Climate and Economic Resilience’ Executive Summary for Policymakers’, hailing its inclusion of a dedicated focus on just transition. While embracing this new focus on workers, ...
Labour unions call for stronger protections in critical minerals sector at TUAC webinar
The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) hosted the first webinar of its 2025 series, “Decent Work in the Critical Minerals Supply Chain” on 7 May, bringing together trade union representatives, OECD officials, and the Canadian G7 presidency to address urgent labour ...
RBC for a Just Transition: TUAC working group tackles MNE climate accountability
On 17 March, TUAC held a meeting of the Working Group on Multinational Enterprises, including discussions on the role of National Contact Points and the interplay between the OECD Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct and binding due diligence legislations such as the EU Due Diligence ...
Addressing inequality must be at heart of new OECD Development Strategy, says TUAC
TUAC has set out its priorities for the new OECD Development Strategy, as inequality between countries rises for the first time in a generation. The Strategy comes a decade after its predecessor and amid mounting challenges to development finance. The new OECD Global Outlook on Financing for ...
Unions step up their engagement with work of the OECD in Latin America
TUAC and national union centres significantly stepped up their engagement with the work of the OECD in Latin America this week. The OECD is increasingly involved in Latin America and the Caribbean, one of the most unequal regions in the world. Almost one in three people in Latin America live in ...
OECD must put workers at the centre of Environmental Justice
For the first time in its history, the OECD held a two-day conference on Environmental Justice and published a report on the topic at the end of May – an event for which TUAC has been calling for a long time. Environmental justice is an issue that is gaining traction globally, as the triple ...
Towards a strong G7 commitment to achieving a just climate transition
Support for a just transition, as well as accelerating climate action, is growing among the G7 group of governments. G7 climate ministers (from the US, UK, EU, Germany, France, Italy, Japan & Canada) recently gave a clear commitment to deliver 1.5C-aligned climate plans in late 2024/early ...
OECD Steel Committee: workers warn of lack of just transition in the industry
Workers are raising concerns over the lack of a just transition in the steel sector. Global excess capacity keeps rising, due to a combination of irresponsible practices by some major multinational steel corporations and misguided action by some governments who keep expanding capacity rather than ...
OECD urged to ensure global long-term needs are not neglected
Trade unions are urging the OECD to encourage governments to adopt consistent long-term policy – and ensure adequate investment – to manage climate change, digital transformation, demographic change. “Governments must not abandon what is needed to achieve long-term and shared prosperity, ...
