Unions are increasingly working with the environmental movement. We represent – or stand in solidarity with – many of those most likely to be badly hit by climate change. Union campaigns for health and safety in the workplace have always had much in common with wider campaigns against pollution. Many environmentalists have a similar commitment to social justice and internationalism that inform the best kinds of trade unionism – the victims of environmental degradation are usually the people for whom unions speak. Unions know that we need big changes in the way the economy work – and have helped put the concept of just transition on the international agenda.

But there are problems too. Read more »

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Our seas are a massive, renewable energy resource. The newly-formed RenewableUK (formerly BWEA) found a new focus yesterday in calling on Government to invest a further £150-£200 million in two renewable technologies – wave and tidal energy. Companies like Siemens and Vattenfall are keen to invest in wave and tidal power, in places like the Pentland Firth. The driver here, surely, is the Government’s high level commitment to get 15% of our total energy from renewables by 2020. This means generating a third of our electricity supply from technology that only now being developed and built. Read more »

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If we hit DECC’s current target of getting 15% of our energy from renewable sources by 2020, the employment prize will be enormous – up to half a million good, well-paying jobs across the UK.

The target itself is already bringing dividends. Firms like Mitsubishi and Clipper Wind are committing major new investments to build wind turbine factories in the UK. This means thousands of new jobs, both directly and in their suppliers. They see that the Government is serious and has a clear vision, and this creates the necessary confidence to invest in Britain for the very long term. Read more »

   Filed under: Environment | 5 Comments »

Funny thing, journalism. The Daily Telegraph reports today that the Japanese Foreign Minister has backed the idea of a financial transactions tax – following up earlier reports of support from more junior ministers. It then says that the idea has failed to gain “major traction among leading governments”. And then cites other supporters of the idea – UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. So, no leading Governments there then! The Japanese coming on board of course puts the Robin Hood Tax on the table in a majority of the G7 richest nations on the planet. The USA remains to be persuaded, but campaigners there, including the AFL-CIO, are working on that.

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Mitsubishi’s decision to build a £100m offshore wind turbine facility in the North East, with up to £30 million in Government support, promises at least new 200 highly skilled jobs. We were promised an active industrial strategy, and that’s what we’re getting. Mandelson and Miliband are jointly behind a flow of Government-backed initiatives supporting the rebirth of wind turbine manufacture in the UK, following the huge Vestas setback just a few months ago. Read more »

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Which jobs are threatened by the transition to a low-carbon economy, and how can we ensure a ‘just transition’ that protects jobs and livelihoods in the process? A Carbon Trust briefing today shows that the problem of “carbon leakage” is small – perhaps 2% of our emissions. And it is capable of resolution with the right mix of interventions such as free emissions permits to sectors at risk, public/private investment, and a carbon “border tax” on imports.

But meanwhile, in America, eight leading Democrat Senators from coal and steel states are now warning that “imprudent regulation” of greenhouse gases “may squander critical opportunities for our nation, impeding the investment necessary to create jobs.” Read more »

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The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the Organisation on Economic Co-operation and Development (TUAC to their friends) have analysed three recent studies into transaction taxes published in Austria, France and the US. They’re interested in the potential of a Financial Transaction Tax in tackling what they’ve identified as a global public good resource gap – the difference between deficits as a result of the financial crisis and bailouts and international spending pledges to meet targets on poverty and climate change. Read more »

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The news this morning that the Conservatives have rejected Lord Adonis’ offer of an early look at the High Speed Rail White Paper should worry supporters of high speed rail. Read more »

   Filed under: Economics, Environment, Politics, Transport | 3 Comments »

Is the Robin Hood Tax on banks’ transactions the key to the $100 billion a year the UN promised developing nations in its Copenhagen Accord? Last December, the UN said new funds on this enormous scale are needed annually to satisfy the needs of developing countries for low carbon technologies and to adapt to climate change impacts that we, the developed nations, have set in train. Read more »

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When Ofgem talks about power companies “sweating assets” you know something is up. So may I welcome Ofgem to the TUC’s energy podium, for a long-overdue meeting of minds?

Ofgem, February 2010: “The unprecedented combination of the global financial crisis, tough environmental targets, increasing gas import dependency and the closure of ageing power stations has combined to cast reasonable doubt over whether the current energy arrangements will deliver secure and sustainable energy supplies” (Project Discovery, 2010).

TUC, October 2006: “Faced with the new energy challenges of climate change and energy security, the UK’s liberalised energy market lacks the foundations on which to deliver the massive new investment required in low carbon and carbon-free energies” (TUC Executive Committee paper). Read more »

   Filed under: Energy, Environment | 2 Comments »