Wednesday, March 2, 2016
VANCOUVER – On the eve of the March 3 First Ministers' meeting in Vancouver, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is proposing a plan that will help Canada reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by one third by creating over one million sustainable climate jobs, allowing workers to transition away from fossil fuels.
The CLC – as part of the Green Economy Network (GEN) – helped develop the plan called “One Million Climate Jobs: A Challenge for Canada.”
“Climate change is a crisis we can’t ignore. Our plan can start the transition process now, so that affected workers and communities can look forward to the future instead of fearing it,” said CLC President Hassan Yussuff.
The GEN plan lays out a framework for job creation in various sectors that would help lift many Canadians out of unemployment or underemployment, while reducing Canada’s carbon emissions, and helping to move the country towards a low-to-zero carbon economy.
Renowned environmental activist, David Suzuki, supports the plan which includes strategic investments in housing retrofits, renewable energy and sustainable transportation systems.
“Workers know climate change is happening – in forestry, in fishing – they see it every day,” said Suzuki.
“This crisis is also an opportunity to transition to a more sustainable future,” Suzuki added.
At the COP21 climate change summit in Paris in December 2015, Prime Minister Trudeau promised that the government would produce a plan to steer the Canadian economy away from its reliance on fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy sources.
“We presented our plan at the summit and we hope the First Ministers and the Prime Minister will be inspired by it. We look forward to the government developing an ambitious roadmap to a sustainable economy,” said Yussuff.
To read the Common Platform of the Green Economy Network, click here.
For more information, please contact:
Chantal St-Denis, CLC Communications, cstdenis@clc-ctc.ca
Kerry Pither, National Director, CLC Communications, kpither@clc-ctc.ca