Slowly climbing a slippery slope: Trade unions at COP

Authors

  • Jeremy Anderson International Transport Workers' Federation

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15173/glj.v16i1.6082

Abstract

This piece is a reflection on the role of the trade union movement in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process, including its annual Conference of the Parties (COP). I write it as someone who has been engaging in COPs as part of the global trade union delegation for the past four years. And it’s important to stress: for the labour movement, climate action is not reducible to the UNFCCC. Whatever trade unions decide to do or not do inside the COP process, there is an enormous need for climate activism in a range of other spaces, from the workplace to national politics.

That being said, I will argue that trade unions should continue to engage in COPs, as it is a key forum where the new climate economy is being shaped. Although I recognise the many failings and structural weaknesses of the COP process, with Brazil taking up the COP30 Presidency this year, this would be a bad time to withdraw from it.

Author Biography

Jeremy Anderson, International Transport Workers' Federation

Jeremy Anderson is director of Just Transition and Sustainable Transport at the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). In the lead up to COP29, he co-ordinated the trade union strategy on climate finance. He was previously ITF Head of Strategic Research, and has a PhD in Geography from Queen Mary, University of London. [Email: Anderson_jeremy@itf.org.uk]

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Published

2025-01-31

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2025): The Gig Economy and Women Workers in the Middle East (special issue)

Section

GLOBAL ISSUES

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