Archived press release

Unions and greens groups call on Government to "create jobs through environmental policies"

16 June 1998

Mick Graham, National Secretary, GMB, Public Services said:
“The environment must be considered as part of the main-stream planning process. Trade Unions and environmental organisations must work together to ensure there are sustainable well-paid jobs protecting the environment both in the work place and in the UK”

Dick Barry, Policy and Research Officer for Unison said:
“This report represents a successful co-operative working relationship between trade unions and green groups. We hope it will be widely read and its proposals acted upon.”

Charles Secrett, Director of Friends of the Earth said:
“This joint report explodes the myth that environmental protection policies are bad for jobs by demonstrating that such policies deliver large numbers of extra jobs - a heartening message for Unions and NGOs alike.”

Andrew Warren, Director of ACE said:
“We are encouraged by this co-operation between environmental groups and Trade Unions

on this vital aspect of sustainable development. We believe the results of this study prove
beyond doubt that environmental protection, social and economic concerns should not be seen as opposing goals but as a vital and exciting opportunity”

A package of policy measures are proposed for each sector which FOE, GMB, Unison and ACE believe will help to create well-paid jobs in an environmentally sustainable economy.These include:

Energy
. adopt the EC Directive to reform fuel excise duties to reflect environmental costs;
. increased public spending to address fuel poverty and increase energy efficiency;
. tighter building regulations on energy efficiency;
. making environmental effects a primary rather than secondary consideration in the regulations of the energy market supported by strong Government guidelines; and
. a duty on energy suppliers to provide and promote loans for energy saving measures.

Transport
. continuation of the road fuel duty escalator;
. removal of the perverse incentive for company car drivers to drive further to pay less tax;
. introduction of a tax on private non-residential parking;
. ending the complete tax holiday enjoyed by aviation fuel at present;
. shifting the balance of public spending to address the chronic under-investment in public transport and cycling provision;
. strengthening the Rail Regulator's role to ensure substantial and speedy investment in modernising rail infrastructure; and
. regulation of the bus industry to create an efficient and comprehensive service that can play its full part an integrated transport system.

Agriculture
. accelerated reform of the Common Agricultural Policy to focus subsidies on whole farm and whole country agri-environmental schemes; and
. introducing a pesticide tax and a pesticide reduction target. Use revenues from the tax to fund information, advice and grant schemes to encourage conversion to less chemically intensive farming systems.

Water
. increased expenditure to ensure the Urban Waste Water Directive is properly resourced;
. commitment by the water companies to go beyond the Government's water leakage reduction targets; and
. encouraging the water firms to use the Welfare to Work programme to train skilled workers for environmental protection schemes.

NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] “Green Job Creation in the UK” is published by FOE, Unison, GMB and ACE. It forms a UK contribution to a European Commission funded awareness raising project coordinated by the Danish General Workers Union and the European Environmental Bureau. Copies can be obtained from ACE - 020-7359 8000.
[2] On Wednesday 10th June 1998 Friends of the Earth published research which suggested that almost a quarter of a million such jobs could be created in the energy and transport sectors by the adoption of policies to meet the Government's target of a 20% cut in CO2 emissions by 2010 (Energy for Sustainable Development(ESD), 1998. Cutting CO2, Creating Jobs. An economic analysis of policies to cut UK CO2 emissions by 20%or more. Available from Friends of the Earth).
ENDS

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