The European Parliament’s Environment committee adopted a report on the ‘circular economy‘ today. The European Commission had withdrawn its initial legislative proposal in a move that was rightly criticised by the Parliament, Environment ministers and civil society. This new report calls on the Commission to draft a new and ambitious proposal.

Jean, who is writing a report about the job creation potential of the green economy said:

‘Today’s vote will mean that the Commission can be in no doubt. The report was supported by a strong, cross-party coalition that wants the bar set high on this important issue by the end of the year.’

The report calls for the introduction of a binding resource-efficiency target based on reducing resource use by 30% by 2030, compared to 2014, along with a binding food waste reduction target of 30%. At the latest, the EU should be producing fully sustainably by 2050.

The report also demands tangible measures to address the following:

• planned obsolescence, and to improve consumer protection around production defects;
• improve products’ durability, reusability and recyclability; and
• ban toxic chemicals from the production line to encourage development of non-polluting production loops

The Commission’s own calculations show that if ambitious enough,  a circular economy package could lead to the creation of over half a million new jobs in the EU, approximately €600bn savings through more efficient use of resources and a 2-4% decrease in CO2 emissions.

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The credibility of the World Cup – and the entire football sector – is at stake over the mistreatment of thousands of migrant workers in Qatar, Members of the European Parliament have warned.

Qatar will host the World Cup in 2022 – but many of the venues are being constructed by migrant workers in ‘slave-like’ conditions.

Nearly 90% of the Gulf state’s workforce are foreign migrants – mostly from India and Nepal – and many are lured to take jobs in the country’s construction boom with lies about the work they will be doing, and are underpaid, forced to live in squalid and overcrowded camps and denied free drinking water in conditions described as ‘modern day slavery’ by human rights organisations.

Now a group of MEPs – including London’s Green MEP Jean Lambert – have called on the nation to sign up to international human rights and workers’ rights treaties designed to improve their conditions.

Their recommendations were adopted by the European Parliament yesterday.

Ms Lambert, speaking ahead of the vote, said:

“The credibility of the whole football sector is at stake.

“It’s vital that the conditions of World Cup workers – and many other migrant workers in the country – are improved immediately, and that the EU, and FIFA, send a strong and clear message to Qatar that the rest of the world won’t tolerate a World Cup realized with the assistance of modern slavery.

“With the highest proportion of migrant workers in the world, and 500,000 more World Cup workers on their way (in a country whose population is only about two million), it’s urgent – for the sake of the workers themselves and the reputation of the World Cup and Qatar itself– that Qatar enforces the law already in place and signs up to UN and International Labour Organisation treaties designed to improve the rights of all migrant workers.

“In short, we’re seeing the ugly side of the beautiful game here, and Qatar really must clean up its act.”

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The ‘green’ sector is already worth £25.4bn a year – and employs more than 163,000 people – in London alone, according to a recent report from the London Assembly.

“Ensuring the UK’s speedy economic revival and responding to the climate crisis present a double challenge – but the solutions are linked,” said Ms Lambert.

“We need to create good, skilled, well-paid jobs – but a truly sustainable economic recovery must tackle climate change.

“The answer must lie in investing in key industries and the new skills – required to make the UK a world leader in the renewable energy and ‘green’ construction industries.

“How this investment is funded – directly by Government or via a so-called ‘Green Investment Bank’ – is a debate we need to have, but it’s clear that this Government is failing to promote the discussion – or, sufficiently, green jobs and environmental industries.

“That’s why I’m hosting a day conference with trade unions, European policymakers and leading industry figures to discuss how we can work together to meet the economic and environmental challenges we face here in the UK and help deliver the EU commitment to a low-carbon future.”

Other speakers at the event include TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Laszlo Andor and Executive Director of the Aldersgate Group Andrew Raingold.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Investment in green technology could boost growth and create hundreds of thousands of high quality jobs. But just at the point at which government needs to step up this investment it is considering cutting off vital support provided through green levies.

“We need to make the case that green investment will create jobs, boost growth, reduce fuel bills, improve the UK’s energy security and help to reduce carbon emissions.”

Other participants include Maria McCaffery of RenewableUK, Stephen Radley of EEF, Terence Hogarth of the Warwick Institute for Employment Research, Andrew Warren, of the Association for the Conservation of Energy, Sue Ferns, Prospect union and Reinhard Butokifer MEP, German Greens.

The event, which will take place at the TUC Congress Centre in London next Friday, November 29, is free – but places are limited, so it’s necessary to register in advance at www.greeneconfuture.eventbrite.com

Ms Lambert, a member of the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee, added: “We have the potential here in the UK to create thousands of new jobs and lead the way in tackling the great environmental crises the world faces in the 21st Century. I hope we can rise to the challenge, and that this conference can play a role in that.”

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The European Parliament voted by a clear majority today to adopt Ms Lambert’s report – ‘Impact of the Crisis on Access to Care for Vulnerable Groups’, originally drafted for the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, of which Ms Lambert is a member.

The report, which will now be considered by the European Commission as ‘official’ European Parliament policy, sends a clear message to all EU governments that austerity measures and cuts should be evaluated to ensure they do not prevent the most vulnerable from being able to access healthcare, care services, and basic living support.

It calls for more early intervention, the need for whole-costs assessment of all cuts and changes to care schemes, EU-led austerity programmes to include an effective social protection and care element, a new law on ‘Carer’s Leave’, new anti-discrimination measures, better dialogue between governments and care providers, including trade unions – and for governments to pay close heed to especially vulnerable groups, including non-documented migrants, Roma and the homeless.

Speaking after the vote, Ms Lambert said:

“Cuts in government spending have led to crucial care service being curtailed across Europe, with a move away from promoting independent living for people with disabilities and increased pressure on the ‘friends and relatives army’ providing much informal care for older people.

“Here in the UK, for example, cuts to disability benefit are already affecting disabled people’s ability to live independently.

“That’s why I have proposed that the EU adopts specific legislation guaranteeing the right to take ‘carers’ leave’ from work – and that all government cuts to any care program are considered in terms of their long-term impacts, and that all government policies are scrutinised to ensure they pay attention to already-vulnerable groups such as those with disabilities, the elderly and the long-term unemployed to stop them enduring poverty.”

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Speaking to mark Global Wind Day , marked each year on June 15th, she cited a recent study by RenewableUK and The Crown Estate which claims the UK has a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ chance to attract the factories that will supply the fast-growing sector.

“Here in the UK we have the opportunity to site some of the 64 manufacturing facilities this study argues the UK and Europe will need to build the blades, towers and foundations for the 36 gigawatts of offshore wind generating capacity EU nations are expected to install by the end of the decade.

“As well as these factories, the industry will need to construct 20 new ships just to install them, and as many as 230 vessels to carry workers to and from the turbines once they are operational.

“All of this will mean thousands of jobs, and a massive boost to the UK economy – but if the Government doesn’t actively support the sector now we will lost this opportunity for ever.”

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“The shocking events of this week do not reflect or represent the city I know and am proud to call home.  These acts, carried out in the majority by people intent on causing chaos and destruction, are nothing less than a devastating attack on our community.  People have lost their homes, their businesses and their livelihoods across London, including in my own borough of Waltham Forest.

“Whilst violence can never be excused, it is important to understand why this has happened in the first place if we are to prevent similar events from taking place.  There are still ongoing issues about relations between the police and young people.  We have a consumer culture which is now coming up against rising levels of youth unemployment and too many young people who lack basic qualifications.  There are no simple solutions to these problems: they require ongoing investment and commitment.

“Over the coming weeks and months as hard working people across London seek to rebuild their lives, I urge the government to look once again at their planned cuts to local and voluntary services and police numbers and consider whether London, and indeed cities across the country, can afford to pay such a heavy price for so called ‘austerity’ measures.”

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The European Union has been developing its climate change strategy over a number of years. We have the so-called ambitious target for the reduction of emissions of 20% on 1990 figures by the year 2020 and we are in line to meet that target, partly due to the recession and the collapse of the old heavy industries in Eastern and Central Europe – that was not a planned reduction.

Now, I have just come from a seminar on climate change, where a member of the IPCC pointed out that the range of reduction their research points to as being necessary to keep the global temperature at not more than a 2° rise, is between 25-40%. So, the EU needs to do more and make a greater unconditional commitment of reductions.

Greater ambition is necessary – Greens campaigned for at least a 40% reduction in our European Election campaign last year: we are pushing Commission and Council to go for at least 30% in the EU 20-20 strategy, which is supposed to be the big strategy document for the next 10years. But targets are not enough. Throughout much of the discussion, what has struck me is how little attention was paid as to how this would work at the point of delivery – what would it mean for the workplace?

You cannot deliver low-emission energy systems, such as solar power, if you don’t have a workforce trained to produce and maintain those systems.

Back in 2007, the London Development Agency commissioned a piece of research on the state of skills in sectors relevant to climate change. It was done at the instigation of the Greens on the London Assembly (always useful to be the two votes the then-Mayor needed to get his budget through!). What it found, was that in virtually every one of the key 6 Skill -Sectors it looked at, the curriculum was not really adapted to take account of the environmental dimension.

The UK is not alone: at that time even Germany – a leader in renewables and energy efficiency – did not have a coherent training strategy.

That is why the Greens pushed for this dimension to be taken up in the EU’s revised Sustainable Development Strategy (it is in there now, but still not fully taken up) and are still pushing now. Gradually, things are shifting but it has taken persistence – questions to each new Presidency when they present their priorities to the Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL): What will you do about Green jobs? How will you develop the environmental dimension within your plans for employment? Putting questions to the training agencies as to how they will develop the necessary skills and arguing for this to be taken up in their work programmes etc.

It has been striking to Greens on EMPL that in the Commission, the interest in the development of jobs that are environment friendly and aiming at lower emissions has come from the Industry Committee, those interested in Innovation, even Agriculture but not from the section dealing with Employment. We are pushing their involvement now with what’s called an Initiative report, where the Committee has the opportunity to do a report on something it considers important and not wait for the Commission. So my German Green colleague, Elisabeth Schroedter, has just completed her report and it is hot-off the-press!

The Green Group is continuing to develop the Green New Deal concept that formed our manifesto for last year’s election and have commissioned further research about job potential.

We need to develop these jobs for both environmental and social reasons – they are not only “future” jobs, they are the jobs we need now, in a recession, to help us towards that future. Let’s look at some of the potential

…the EU’s eco-industry has an annual turnover of over €270 billion which equals more than 2% of the EU’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The eco-industry’s two most important sectors are pollution management (including technologies and services in waste management, air pollution control, soil remediation, and recycling) and resource management (including renewable energy plants and water supply).
The employment in the EU eco-industry increased at 5 percent per year in the 1990s, which made the eco-industry one of the fastest growing sectors of the EU economy. Since 2000, the smaller but more dynamic sub-sectors (such as resource management subsectors) have been the source of net new employment. This was due to the extraordinary progress made in new technologies such as solar and wind energy .
Using the widest definition, about 10 percent of the jobs in the EU are somehow linked to the environment. When the indirect effects are included this share increases to 16.7 percent17, meaning one in six jobs in the EU are in some way linked to the environment. The aim should be for every job to be a “green job” in the sense that it takes account of the environment. But Green work must also be decent work – paid at a level that people can live on, good working conditions and workforce involvement. That involvement will be crucial. The TUC in the UK has been involved in pilot projects which show how effective that can be. It is why the Greens here are supporting the Trade Unions in their call for Environmental Representatives in the workplace – just as we currently have Health and Safety reps.
According to the ETUC, Climate change challenges the energy sector directly. The transformation from fossil-based energy production to an energy sector mainly based on renewable energies and energy efficiency is a crucial issue for achieving carbon reduction aims. Municipal and decentralized structures will partly replace energy production from central plants. This is a crucial challenge for workers in this sector where green jobs can be created. Just transition must mitigate on the other hand the negative effects for employment

We have already seen massive job losses over the years in the energy sector. About ten years ago, I was one of a group of Greens who visited a lignite plant in the former GDR. (at the invitation of Elisabeth Schroedter). A new electricity plant had been built in the few years since unification, new machinery brought in and the number of jobs had fallen from 3000 to just 300. That is just one example: jobs are going in the old sectors – what about the new ones?

As I was saying – the jobs are there.

There is broad agreement among many studies that alternative energy creates more jobs than conventional sources do-in other words, a switch from oil, gas, or coal produces a net gain in employment

All predictions show that employment linked to renewable energy in Europe will grow over the next decades. High investment sums for increasing capacities of renewable energies will lead to more employment in engineering, machinery and other branches .
In wind energy, the prediction for the UK alone (if we can get the investment): is that with a 15% renewable energy target by 2020 set by the EU for the UK there could be 125,000 jobs in manufacturing: we could also find 100,000 jobs in solar installation in the UK in a shorter time frame, if we could sort out the supply bottle neck.

• Even countries with less good wind “supply” are producing jobs. Germany had some 82,000 employed in the sector in 2006, according to the Government. Spain currently employs about 33,000.

Solar Photovoltaics look very positive for the EU.

Between 2000 and 2005, the solar photovoltaics (PV) industry averaged annual growth rates of more than 40 percent-one of the fastest growing industries in the world. In the current climate, there are many who would be satisfied with a 4% growth figure!
Global production of PV cells rose to a record 3,733 MW in 2007-a more than 20-fold increase from 1998. Its output soaring, Europe has now overtaken Japan as the leading producer, but China is developing very fast.
Germany continues to dominate the installation market, with almost half the global market .Their “green roofs” programme still leads the field.
A German government-sponsored study estimated PV employment at 26,900 jobs in 2006. But in 2007, the Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (German solar energy association) put employment even higher-at 35,000 people, surpassing the number of jobs in the country’s nuclear industry. Spain follows closely behind, with more than 26,000 jobs in 2007.

As important as leadership in PV technology is, many jobs are also created in the installation and servicing of PV systems rather than in their manufacture. The technology thus holds promise for economic development and employment in many locations.

The Solar Thermal Industry is also productive.
• Germany has some 19,000 people employed in this industry. Within Europe, Germany leads solar thermal water heating development, accounting for 50 percent of the market in 2006-way ahead of Austria, Greece, France, and Italy. Spain currently has about 9,000 jobs. In 2006, the Italian solar thermal industry provided almost 2,000 full time (direct and indirect) jobs, with 3,000 jobs forecast for 2007 (assuming one full-time job per 70 kilowatts-thermal (100 square meters) installed) . Where is Greece in all this development?
So at the macro-level (power-plant equivalent) and the micro (domestic) level – the jobs are there. We want to reduce our emissions so as to help avoid the worst predictions on climate change – so the need is there. The big question is – where is the political will to lead us to this major change in the energy sector and new, sustainable jobs?

Speech by Jean Lambert MEP, at a Public Hearing For A Roadmap Towards A Post-Lignite Era For Greece, European Parliament, Brusels, Thursday 15 April, 2010.

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76 million EU citizens currently live below the poverty line (set at 60% of a country’s median income). There are a further 36 million at risk of poverty – about 1 in 6 people. 1 in 5 young people are in/ or at risk of poverty.

In the recession, these numbers are rising: Spain currently has a youth unemployment rate of 20%. Child poverty is up. Older people have the same poverty ratio as the young.

There are huge country-to-country variations in these figures. For older people in poverty, we are looking at about 5% in the Czech Republic to 30% for Lithuania and the UK, to 51% for Cyprus.

Even those in work can still find themselves in the poverty figures: about 8% so-called “working-poor”, particularly those on low-pay, with low skills and with a “precarious” work or household structure.

So there is an added relevance to the European Anti-Poverty Year in this time of economic downturn. People are scandalised at the size of bonuses in the financial sector and are asking questions about the structural effect of this on the economy as a whole. How we measure economic well-being is now back on the agenda – we have the recent communication on GDP and Beyond from the Commission and even President Sarkozy is talking about happiness as a measure of success. As a Green, and therefore one who has been questioning the dominance of GDP for years, I am pleased to welcome others to the debate!

We are also facing the challenge of climate change and the need to find effective responses. I see that the plan for the 2010 European Year in this country aims to do a bit of myth-busting about poverty. Could I add a myth of my own to the list? That the environment is only an issue for the well-off!

When we consider the health impacts of climate change – the effect of prolonged heat on the very young, those with respiratory problems, older people – we see groups often affected by poverty. Fuel poverty is an issue we know only too well here: how will poorer people fare as fuel costs rise? Sound, affordable public transport systems are part of the response to lowering emissions – poorer people are more dependent on public transport. Poorer people frequently experience the poorest environments and have few resources to change their situation.

The arguments around tackling poverty within the EU may well sound familiar. There is concern around spending on benefits, yet we know that social transfers have reduced the risk of poverty by about a third (again figures vary from state to state). There is concern about the affordability of pensions and the prospect of raising state pensionable age, yet a flexible retirement age is resisted. Governments are worried about the demographic shift in the EU but cannot really get to grips positively with migration: let’s hope that 2012 will be an effective Year of Intergenerational Solidarity. We see an increase in so-called labour-market activation measures within a context of flexicurity: but we have to ensure that we don’t just demand flexibility from those looking for work or in work, without ensuring the necessary security alongside it (and my Danish colleagues insist that the 3rd part of their much-vaunted system is strong trade unions!). That security presents a challenge for social security systems which are all too often very inflexible, linked to the concept of people either being full-time, ongoing work or not. How can we develop systems that will respond to a world of increasing amounts of casual or part-time work or short-term contracts?

There is also considerable debate around the subject of a minimum income guarantee. Should each EU member State introduce at least a minimum wage? Should there be a core basic income payable to all? On what basis do member States decide their level of social support? What is considered essential for a dignified life?
In December 2008, the Council of Ministers agreed a Recommendation on Active Inclusion which has three main components: adequate income support; inclusive labour markets and access to quality services…active inclusion policies are intended for all those excluded from the labour market by supporting them with the resources they need to lead a dignified life and with opportunities for social participation, and promoting access to quality and lasting employment that corresponds to their aptitudes and abilities; (para 19)

So, how to engage with this process? We have, of course, our National Action Plans within the open Method of Coordination. What else?

Well, in the UK we have a General Election next year, where many of these issues will take centre stage: access to quality services for example – the provision of stable housing that is affordable, education, health, long-term care. So many of these areas are essential to combating poverty. How can we deliver adequate income support? What are the implications for pensions, housing benefit, child allowance? How can we deliver an inclusive labour market? What confidence should we have concerning these issue with those who want to come out of the Social Chapter?

The economic downturn has made these issues relevant to the many and challenges the myth of the “feckless poor”, when people who feel they have done everything “right” look the risk of poverty in the face. Poverty is not a choice and can happen to anyone. There are many faces to poverty, not just those of that of Wayne and Waynetta!

There is an active face and we need to build the resilience of communities as well as individuals:

Resilience in the local economy through mechanisms such as credit unions, LETS, micro-credit
In local production: for example, through food production on allotments or in community gardens
Mental health and well-being, through social activity, whether that’s environmental improvements, voluntary visiting schemes or a whole host of other activities
Training opportunities, not least to reduce the digital divide within and between generations.

How can we amplify the voice of those experiencing poverty? How can we increase engagement at all levels? Are the local Trades councils and Chambers of Commerce being approached about 2010? The Transition Towns movement is interested in issues of local economy and well-being. All the organisations involved in Make Poverty History need to be pulled into getting active in 2010 to make a difference here and to reinforce the importance of the Millennium Development Goals. There are lots of ideas in this room today.

It is a disgrace that in one of the richest regions of the world we still have people who go bed hungry because they cannot afford to eat; who cannot afford to keep warm or who have no roof over their head.

The European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion offers an opportunity to challenge the policies that keep people poor and which do not offer the opportunity to live in dignity.

For more information go to 2010againstpoverty.europa.eu/

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Jean Lambert MEP commented:

“Europe urgently needs a Green New Deal: a truly sustainable economic recovery to respond to the current converging crises of peak oil, climate change and economic recession. Despite all the green talk in Europe, this new study exposes that the EU and its Member States are lagging behind. The EU must seize the opportunity to tackle climate change, switch to a more sustainable development path and create green jobs.”

Download here: A Green New Deal for Europe

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“Workers’ Rights need defending and strengthening and I will continue to demand progress both in the UK and across Europe.”

As a Member of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee in the European Parliament, Jean plays an integral role in improving workers’ rights and creating better conditions for work across Europe.

Jean has worked with numerous trade unions on a wide range of campaigns and this leaflet covers her achievements and the legislative developments on:

– Working time
– Living wage
– Agency workers
– Posting of Workers Directive
– Green work and skills
– Green Reps

Download here: Workers Rights

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