Green jobs according to the ILO definition are decent jobs
that are aimed directly at reducing the detrimental impact of the environment.
And this is done in different ways by reducing waste and pollution,
by protecting and restoring the ecosystem,
or by limiting emissions.
Green jobs can be found in the so called green growth sectors
which include eco-efficient buildings and construction,
sustainable forest management,
but green jobs can also be found in more traditional sectors,
in key occupations in the mining sector, in the construction sectors,
and are indeed meant to ensure the introduction
of more environment friendly processes and technologies.
There’s an extremely close link between the working environment
and the broader environment,
in fact we could say that working environment
and the general environment are two faces of the same coin.
I’ll give you an example: in the workplace
the workers are very often the first ones to be exposed to hazardous chemicals.
And if such chemicals are not properly managed at the workplace,
this will have very negative consequences for the environment
and for the well-being of the community that surround the workplace
through the pollution of air, water and soil.
So whatever measures are taken at the workplace
with a view to protecting workers from exposure to these chemicals,
it also has immediate and tangible implications also for the general environment.
Likewise, therefore, whenever consideration has been given to the introduction of new
technologies,
greener technologies,
which are aimed precisely to diminish the negative impact on the environment,
because of this close link,
equal consideration should be given to ensuring
that the health and safety of the workers are not jeopardized.
So in other words,
if a work which is aimed at being more environment friendly
does not take into account the health and safety of the workers
cannot be regarded as green, and at the same time
a job which is aimed at protecting the health and safety of the workers
but does not address in an adequate manner
also the preservation of the environment cannot be regarded as green either.
Green jobs are not health and safe by default.
Like any other jobs the introduction of new processing,
new technologies, new ways of organizing the production and work.
This may entail the generation of new hazards,
new risk for the health and safety of the workers.
Therefore such potential hazards need to be identified at the very onset.
So if this is done on a systematic way,
we can be confident that indeed
the greening of the economy will have major positive implications
for the safety and health of worker across the whole economy.
The ILO has a vast ray of instruments that have been developed since its inception
which are aimed at ensuring that the right instruments are in place
with a view to making workers’ lives healthier and safer.
At the same or recently with the green jobs initiatives in 2007,
the ILO has clearly committed towards promoting a green economy
which is sustainable, socially inclusive,
and which is driven by the creation of decent work, decent jobs.
And the key dimension of decency at work is the protection of health and safety of workers.
The ILO is also trying to assist governments, especially in developing countries,
towards improving the working conditions and living conditions,
and the working environment in the waste management industry
that in developing countries, to a large extend,
is carried out by informal economic co-operators.
The intervention of the ILO focuses on multiple fronts,
one is linked to efforts aimed at encouraging the transition of these workers
from informality to formality.
Even in the present day,
economic circumstances in which many countries are facing real challenges of an economic
nature,
we cannot bargain on the health and safety of workers.
This is not negotiable,
this is a truly common and shared responsibility among state, enterprises, employers and workers
and I think, at the end of the day,
we all have to make sure that we have done our best
in order to ensure that we can go back home safely.