ARGENTINA - The government announced its "Productivity Plan 2030" entailing 10 "Missions¨ that will mobilize the country´s productive potential to tackle some of the country´s socio economic, technology and environmental challenges ahead. PAGE and ILO country teams advocated before the Argentinean National Cabinet of Climate Change on the importance of Inclusive Green Economic transformation and creation of green jobs.
The 10-mission-package was design-based on a concept laid by leading economist Mariana Mazzucato. It shall orient key economic sectors such as agriculture, transport, tourism, and mining, for instance, for an increased adherence to sustainable production patterns that are in line with the environmental challenges of the 21st century.
The President and Secretary of Social Affairs Secretary stated that the first ¨Mission¨ consigned by the government´s Plan aims to "develop the green economy for a just environmental transition".
In the frame of the C40 initiative and UNFCCC, the municipality of Buenos Aires has officially set up a board of experts for exploring prospects on the creation of green jobs in the country in an event held on February 23.
The PAGE team in Argentina has delivered guidance to the nominated board of experts´ in its upcoming tasks for developing a green jobs indicator. Previously, PAGE and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) worked with the Centre for Metropolitan Studies to conduct a green jobs assessment in the city of Buenos Aires.
PAGE aims to support the Argentinean capital in becoming one of the first cities in the world with indicators of green jobs reported, using PAGE´s methodology and instruments for policy design.
PAGE took part in a debate in Argentina organized by the Climate Action Trade Union Front on climate change, productive development and labour. Leaders reflected on the former president Juan Domingo Peron’s environmental message addressed to the people and governments of the world back in 1972, in which he warned about the problems of the environment and natural disasters, what is still a vivid issue in the global context.
The debate included representatives from several Unions and environmental groups. Young referents from the ¨Youth Against Climate Change¨ also joined the discussion on a devoted segment about the labour implications regarding job creation and people within a market driven transformation towards a greener economy.
A new diploma on Green Jobs and Just Transition has been launched in Argentina through the Institute of the World of Work at the National University UNTREF following PAGE inputs. This first cohort of students enrolled join from various Chambers, Trade Unions, the UN System and government.
Course modules include Sustainable Development, Just Transition and Green Jobs; Just Transition and Green Employment. Regulatory framework; Ecological Transition and Green Recovery; Sustainable Production and Consumption
Green Trade; Incentive Policies for Just Transition; Social Dialogue: Definitions and Tools to Work the Just Transition and the Promotion of Green Employment; and Skills and Competencies for Just Transition and Green Employment.
A number of PAGE studies have aided in the development of the curriculum and the PAGE Coordinator, Cabinet Chief of the Secretary of State for Employment, and Chief Economist of the UN RCO have all contributed to delivering courses.
Argentina’s Ministry of Production has announced a National Green Productive Development Plan to align the country’s production with the global climate agenda. PAGE-led initiatives such as National Dialogues held in 2019 and 2020, various assessments and the creation of the “Just Transition Board” within the National Cabinet of Ministers Against Climate Change have all contributed to its development and placement on the political agenda.
PAGE is currently working on several instruments that will help the Government in implementing the Plan, such as Green Jobs Indicators for active labour market policies and green standards for finance, as well as an upcoming study on the fiscal impact and strategy for Circular Economy.
Overall the Green Productive Development Plan aligns with Argentina’s commitment to combat climate change and includes a set of initiatives to implement that commitment in production systems with a sustainable, inclusive and environmentally responsible paradigm — across government, private sector and civil society.
The goals of the Plan include:
Economic, federal, inclusive and sustainable development.
Added value and generation of green jobs.
Reduction of the impact of production on climate change, within the framework of international agreements.
Promotion of productivity and competitiveness.
Argentina continues to make strides in fostering a Just Transition towards a green economy with a number of key studies finalized, as well as assessments on a Just Transition in a COVID-19 context and on the Union Perspective on a Just Transition.
The assessments on Just Transition were validated in workshops on 6 April and 30 March 2021 respectively, bringing together officials from the Ministries of Environment and Sustainable Development; Ministry Employment, Labor and Social Security; Ministry of Economy; Ministry of Social Development; Ministry of Productive Development; Ministry of Tourism and Sports; the ACUMARBasin Authority; and representatives of various UN agencies including the Chief Economist of the Argentine Office of the UN Resident Coordinator.
The assessments and subsequent workshops are part of a greater initiative in Argentina to develop a national Just Transition strategy and these papers have been developed through a participatory process, including more than 75 interviews and three workshops with workers unions, government institutions and employers. In particular, the union-centric workshop was the first in a series that brings together the key issues of green recovery and Just Transition from a range of perspectives across unions, employers and government representatives. The results will aim to inform a tripartite process to develop the strategy under a working group within the National Climate Change Cabinet.
Green Jobs and a Just Transition are key objectives in Argentina — This work follows on from a number of preceding achievements including the ‘Labour Diagnostic of the Just Transition to a Green Economy’ report in 2020 (composed of five interrelated studies that provided inputs for different elements of the country’s IGE transition); a PAGE-developed analysis on the “Linkages between the 2030 Agenda and Just Transition for Green Recovery”, finalized in August 2020, and the High-Level Dialogue held in December 2020 among representatives from government ministries, labor and trades unions, and international organizations.
Setting strong foundations
Laying guiding foundations for the ongoing work in Argentina, PAGE Argentina has also finalized its Stocktaking Study and Executive Summary; a diagnostic of labor, green economy and Just Transition; and a study on green recovery & circular economy.
- Inventario de políticas relacionadas a la economía verde en la Argentina (Stocktaking report: Inventory of policies related to the green economy in Argentina), 2021
- Resumen ejecutivo - Inventario de políticas relacionadas a la economía verde en la Argentina (Executive summary - Stocktaking report: Inventory of policies related to the green economy in Argentina), 2021
- La reconstrucción verde - Avances de la economía circular hacia una transición justa en Argentina (Green recovery - Progress in the circular economy towards a just transition in Argentina), 2021
- Resumen ejecutivo - Diagnóstico laboral de la transición justa hacia una economía verde en la Argentina (Executive summary - Labor diagnosis of the just transition towards a green economy in Argentina), 2021
- Resumen ejecutivo - Nuevo panorama de la economía verde en Argentina, inventario de políticas y diagnóstico laboral para una transición justa (Executive summary - New panorama of the green economy in Argentina, inventory of policies and labour diagnosis), 2021
- Factsheet - Nuevo panorama de la economía verde en Argentina (New panorama of the green economy in Argentina), 2021
Vector by Macrovector
PAGE Argentina hosted a high-level virtual event with representatives from the Argentine government and labor sector on 15 December. The political meeting gathered individuals from the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security, the Ministry of Productive Development; and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) and the General Labor Confederation (CGT) to discuss inclusive green economy, a just transition and green jobs in Argentina.
The event was followed by two virtual technical dialogues led by UNDP on 16 and 17 December, the first jointly with PAMPA 2030, the mechanism of trade unions embedded in the national SDG process, and the second with the UN Global Compact.
The tripartite dialogue, overall, presented an opportunity to strengthen coordination amongst Ministries on policies for a Just Transition, using social dialogue as a means to increase momentum on sustainable and inclusive outcomes — including discussions of The Green New Deal and workshops for awareness-raising. Similar dialogues are expected to be planned for the coming years to strengthen a national roadmap for inclusive green economy priorities.
See the agenda here.
Watch the full video.
In its first year of implementation, the PAGE program in Argentina is contributing to policymaking and practice, aiding in the development of two special boards established in the National Cabinet of Ministers for Climate Change within the Ministry of Labor. The "Green Jobs and Just Transition Board," announced on 21 September, and the “Sustainable Production Board” are envisioned to provide a high-level policy anchor for the PAGE program in Argentina, enabling Green Economy issues promoted by PAGE to be officially captured by a central policy-making mechanism.
PAGE has also participated in the development of two special inter-ministerial agreements in 2020, one between the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Environment for the promotion of youth green employment, and another between the Ministry of Labor and the Matanza Riachuelo (ACUMAR) River Basin Authority to promote green jobs in the industrial area through professional skills development.
Argentina’s transition to an inclusive green economy has been facilitated most recently by the approval of three laws on 18 November: the so-called ‘wealth tax’ law for the exceptional solidarity fee on extreme personal wealth assets, which will, among other aspects of green recovery issues, provide a special fund for fostering locally and organically produced food, a law to prevent commercial development of fire-destroyed land, as well as the ‘Yolanda Law,’ which requires those who work in public office to receive training on green issues and the environment.
PAGE Argentina’s momentum will continue in coming months, with plans to provide input on the Labour market impacts of sector reforms for the submission of the Nationally Determined Contribution, highlighting the mandate of the Silesia Declaration, Just Transition and Decent Work agenda. This support will be deepened in 2021 through Green Recovery planning that aims at providing socio-economic scenarios, industrial conversion plans and labour adaptation plans to the Cabinet of Ministers on Climate Change. Additionally, a High-Level National Dialogue on Green Economy is planned for 15 December, to be followed by technical dialogues by PAMPA 2030 and Global Compact.
PAGE Partner Countries, South Africa and Argentina, joined the GGKP-led webinar Green Jobs and a Just Transition: Country Perspectives on 18 November to present their respective experiences, best practices and national strategies for overcoming challenges in working towards just and green development.
Offering particular insights on green economic recovery potential, this is the third edition of a five-part GGKP webinar series, under the project Green Economy Transformation: Synergies between Low-carbon Pathways and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) under the International Climate Initiative (IKI), in cooperation with PAGE running from 2018 to 2021.
With representation from Mactavish Makwarela, Director of Mitigation, South Africa's Department of Climate, Change, Air Quality and Sustainable Development and Rodrigo Rodriguez Tornquist, Secretary of Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Innovation, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Argentina, the webinar south to address topics such as: the importance of green jobs in national recovery strategies; what sectors are leading in green jobs creation; and how governments can support workers during a green transition.
The first webinar in the series, We're Here to Help: Free policy advisory services for a greener economy (May 2019), introduced free-of-charge advisory services for policymakers, policy advisors, and supporting institutions to aid the transition to an inclusive green economy.
The second webinar, Measuring What Matters: A new methodology for collecting and reporting data on fossil fuel subsidies (October 2019), presented a methodology for measuring fossil fuel subsidies in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and providing practical guidance to governments for collecting and reporting data on fossil fuel subsidies.
Thanks to a strong partnership and support from the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany, PAGE is announcing the first wave of green recovery funds for five partner countries — Senegal, Argentina, South Africa, Brazil (Mato Grosso) and Thailand. With funding support first announced in July at the High Level Political Forum, PAGE has since engaged across its five UN agencies along with UN Resident Coordinators and government ministries to develop country-specific proposals for additional support — with all proposals targeting actions that will fuel green and inclusive recoveries from the impacts of COVID-19. Thanks to this coordinated effort, these targeted green recovery funds will be disbursed by the end of the year.
After conducting a rapid Needs Assessment Survey and tracking impacts in a Data Observatory of its 20 partner countries, PAGE has been able to assist in identifying areas where support for green recovery would be most impactful.
Through wide engagement on the country-level, this additional PAGE support mechanism will be aiding efforts led by and embedded within each country context — being both demand-driven and tactical for maximum effect. With this, PAGE is answering the call to be a catalyst for green recovery at the global level: named within “A UN framework for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19” to support the development of green stimulus packages (p 18).
PAGE partner countries Senegal, Argentina, South Africa, Brazil (Mato Grosso) and Thailand are among the first countries to submit proposals. These proposed efforts for green economic recovery include key themes across waste management, support to Small and Medium Enterprises, youth entrepreneurship, circular economy, sustainable finance for Family Agriculture and green jobs policy development. Reinforcing the PAGE approach, each proposal is unique in nature, addressing country needs and driven from within. Over the coming weeks, these workplans will be further developed so the programmes can be set in motion quickly.
Proposals have all had to meet standard guidelines to safeguard the success and ensure these are truly inter-agency and demand-driven, complementing ongoing country efforts on economic recovery and developed in collaboration with UNRC offices and government ministries.