6 February, 2012
Disappointed with a draft of the UN Global Compact document “Corporate Sustainability Leadership: A Framework for Action at Rio+20 and Beyond,” global labour’s two representatives on the body – ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings – worked to get stronger trade union language adopted by the Global Compact for the UN’s June 2012 World Summit on Sustainable Development, dubbed “Rio+20.”
That effort succeeded last week when the Global Compact accepted inclusion of a better accounting of the social dimension of sustainability. All UN agencies, including the Global Compact, have been preparing their input to that summit.
At the insistence of Warda and Jennings, the document now calls on businesses fully respect human rights, including the rights of workers. Governments are called on to guarantee a high standard of social protection, and to establish programmes that support a Just Transition to a future with sustainable jobs and decent work in both existing industries and in new and greener ones.
ICEM and UNI worked to get reference to fairness, equity, justice, social dialogue, and Global Framework Agreements in the document.
The document, while a compromise, is a significant step forward that will allow further elaboration on these ideas at future Global Compact meetings. In addition, these words will support and strengthen other trade union inputs for Rio+20.
The full document can be read here.
The Global Compact was started by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in the year 2000 to motivate businesses to work towards a sustainable future and now includes ten principles.
Among the ten are two related to basic human rights, four regarding labour rights (freedom of association/right to collective bargaining; abolition of child labour; elimination of forced and compulsory labour; and elimination of employment discrimination), three on environment (businesses supporting a precautionary approach to environmental challenges; undertaking initiatives for greater environmental responsibility; and to encourage the development and diffusion of environmental friendly technologies), and an anti-corruption principle.