Unions Dislike Decision to Hold 2012 Climate Summit in Qatar

World’s Unions Criticise Decision to Hold 2012 Climate Summit in Qatar

Brussels, 29 November 2011 - The decision to allow Qatar, notorious for its violations of workers’ rights, to host the 2012 UN climate change summit has been strongly criticised by the world’s main trade union body, the ITUC.

“Huge economic transformation is needed to tackle climate change. This massive task can only be achieved if working people’s rights are respected – it cannot be simply imposed from above. Qatar has an appalling record of ignoring workers’ rights, especially migrants, and the decision to hold next year’s climate summit there sends a totally wrong message and risks delaying vital action. Either Qatar must move urgently to implement labour laws in line with international standards, or another host country should be found for the COP18 talks,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.

The decision to hold the COP18 Conference in Qatar was taken today in Durban by the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), on the eve of the COP17 Conference, involving 194 governments and with a wide range of civil society organisations, including more than 250 trade union representatives from around the world.

The ITUC represents 175 million workers in 153 countries and territories and has 308 national affiliates. Website: http://www.ituc-csi.org and http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI.

ENDS

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