On 12 July, the Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Kelly Olmos, led the opening of the first meeting the National Council on Green Jobs, together with the Secretary of Employment, Leonardo Di Pietro, and the Secretary of Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Innovation of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Cecilia Nicolini, among others.
The National Council on Green Jobs serves as a space for dialogue, consultation, and advocacy on employment policies as part of the Argentina Green Jobs Programme, supported by PAGE. It is an instrument for governing the transformations that are needed in the design of the Active Labour Market Policies for promoting green jobs sector-wide including local governments and sectors of the Social Economy.
“Our government has the political will to move towards a more environmentally friendly production system, making policies of repair, foresight and change that put us on the path of cleaner production, in a circular economy”, said Olmos.
The initiative seeks to favour economic activities that are careful in the use of natural resources and environmental impact and, at the same time, to promote vocational training for environmentally sustainable actors and to facilitate the just transition to green jobs.
“What we are seeing in relation to climatic phenomena such as droughts or floods is that they become more acute, they become longer in time and, as always, the impacts are felt by the most vulnerable people. This is why I think this Advisory Council is so important, in order to be able to turn the climate situation around and the need we have to be able to put Argentina on a path of sustainable development”, assured Nicolini.
The National Council consists of representatives of different entities, including workers, employers, cooperatives, academia, civil society, public institutions, and other actors from the employment sector and the industry sector.
Di Pietro stressed: “We felt it was extremely important to create this space where society, through different civil society organisations and the state, can make progress in improving conditions and actions in terms of employment and vocational training.
The next steps will be to address specific issues, through working groups convened by the Social Dialogue Coordination for Employment and Vocational Training of the Employment Secretariat, to refine future policies that will be promoted at the national level.
PAGE is a joint initiative of UNIDO, ILO, UNEP, UNDP and UNITAR that supports 22 countries in shaping inclusive and green economy policy and practice. Argentina joined in 2018.
Sources: PAGE, RAMCC, Cader, Argentina Gobierno