booklet 1 environmental indicators of development · booklet 1 environmental indicators of...

Trade Unions and EnvironmentallySustainable Development

Booklet 1

ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORSOF DEVELOPMENT

Workers’ Education and Environment

Project INT93/M12/NOR

Bureau for Workers’ Activities

International Labour Office Geneva

This booklet is one of eight booklets in the series “Trade Unions andEnvironmentally Sustainable Development”. The series was produced in1996 as part of the International Labour Organization project “Workers’

Education and Environment” (INT/93/M12/NOR), sponsored by theGovernment of Norway.

It comprises:

Guide to the Booklets

1. Environmental Indicators of Development

2. Political Indicators of Development

3. Economic Development and Security

4. Social Development

5. Equality of Opportunity and Treatment

6. Education and Training

7. International Development

Publication does not constitute endorsement by the ILO. You areinvited to copy, excerpt, adapt and translate the materials for non-commercial purposes, and to make them appropriate for youreducation and training activities. The ILO, however, does not acceptresponsibility for such republication.

Please acknowledge the source and send a copy of the reprint tothe Bureau for Workers’ Activities.

While every effort has been made to contact the copyright holdersfor material reproduced herein, we would be happy to hear from anyunacknowledged source.

For more information about the project, please contact:

Bureau for Workers’ ActivitiesInternational Labour Office,4, route des Morillons, CH-1211,Geneva 22, Switzerland

Fax: 41-22-799-6570.E-mail [email protected]

Photographs: Jaques Maillard, ILO Geneva, unless otherwise stated.

Design and printing: International Training Centre

of the ILO - Turin, Italy

Introduction

In this booklet we look at the environmental issues dis-cussed in the booklets in the ILO “Workers’ Education andEnvironment” series, and which may help you, as tradeunionists, promote union policies on environmentally sus-tainable development.

Environmental issues are many and varied. This bookletlooks at the links between the working and living environ-ment, protection of national resources, deforestation,desertification, biodiversity, energy use and pollution, ur-banization, managing wastes, transport and pollution. Allwill have an effect on the working and living environmentof workers and their families.

It traces the history of the increasing awareness over re-cent years of the need to effectively manage the envi-ronment if development is to be at all sustainable,showing that the environment and development are notseparate challenges but are very closely linked.

After describing some of the main issues from local, na-tional and international perspectives, the booklet looks atthe important role that workers and trade unions can playin improving environmental protection and sustainabledevelopment. This means looking primarily at the impactof industrial and other activities on the environment andvice-versa, and making the environment a workplace is-sue.

In this respect, unions are increasingly linking environ-mental issues to another long-standing union concern —workplace health and safety. They are looking at therights they have won and the skills they have developedin relation to this, and thinking about extending them towork on the environment.

In this way they are using environmental audits to identifyenvironmental problems related to work, and negotiat-ing “green” agreements with employers at workplaceand national levels, as well as using their expertise in tri-partite advisory and decision-making bodies.

Environmental indicators of development 1

Hopefully, this booklet will help you and your union to:

u think about the major environmental issues and theirrelationship to development in your country and at in-ternational level;

u think about the important role unions can play at theworkplace in relation to identifying environmentalproblems and finding solutions to them in coopera-tion with employers and community;

u consider the importance of participation in advisorybodies and environmental negotiations at all levels;

u define priorities to include in a union policy on overallenvironmentally sustainable development.

2 ILO - Workers' Education and Environment

ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS

OF DEVELOPMENT

Environment and development are not separate chal-lenges. They are closely linked. Development cannotcontinue if the environment and natural resources dete-riorate, and the environment cannot be protected if eco-nomic growth ignores the costs of environmentaldestruction.

The environment as an issue in development came upfor debate in the early 1970s when the UN Conferenceon the Human Environment was called in Stockholm in1972 to discuss the rights of humans to a healthy and pro-ductive environment. This conference raised hopes forgreater international cooperation on major issues, espe-cially on access for all to basic services such as ade-quate food, safe water, good housing, education, etc.

Environmental degradation, which was first seen as aproblem of wealthier nations and a result of industrializa-tion, was increasingly seen in a wider context and that itwas a survival issue for developing nations. It was seen aspart of the downward spiral of linked environmental andeconomic decline in which many of the poorest nationswere, and still are, trapped.

The 1980s, however, were marked by a retreat from thesesocial concerns. It took the creation of the UN WorldCommission on Environment and Development in 1983and the publication of its landmark report, “Our CommonFuture”, in 1987, to more acutely focus the world’s atten-tions on the links between environmental problems, pat-terns of economic development, and social andpolitical factors.

The report warned that people had to change many ofthe ways in which they did business and lived or the worldwould face unacceptable levels of human suffering andenvironmental damage. The Commission said that theglobal economy had to meet people’s needs and legiti-mate desires, but growth had to fit within the planet’secological limits. Humanity had to “ensure that it meetsthe needs of the present without compromising the abil-ity of future generations to meet their own needs”.


In 1989, the United Nations began planning a Confer-ence on Environment and Development to spell out howto achieve sustainable development. For two years thou-sands of people from non-governmental organizations,trade unions, businesses, education, women’s groups, in-digenous groups and others cotnributed to the negotiat-ing processes that led to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio deJaneiro.

The Earth Summit produced the Rio Declaration on Envi-ronment and Development; two international agree-ments on climate change and on biological diversity; astatement of forest principles; and Agenda 21, an actionprogramme for the 21st century. The latter offers con-crete proposals for action to be taken globally by govern-ments, workers’ and employers’ organizations, UNorganizations, development agencies and other non-governmental organizations in every area in which hu-man activity impacts on the environment.

The Earth Summit in Rio did much to raise people’sawareness of environmental problems and to move theconcept of the environment from a narrow focus on pol-lution to a broad range of issues related to both environ-ment and deve lopment. I t a l so showed thatenvironmental problems are global as well as local in na-ture.


“... humanity has reached a turning point. We can continue with presentpolicies which are deepening economic divisions within and betweencountries — which increase poverty, hunger, sickness and illiteracy andcause the continuing deterioration of the ecosystem on which life andEarth depend.

Or we can change course. We can act to improve the living standards ofthose who are in need. We can better manage and protect the ecosystemand bring about a more prosperous future for us all. No nation can achievethis on its own. Together we can — in a global partnership for sustainabledevelopment".

Agenda 21

This booklet looks at the direct links of development andenvironment from a local, national and internationalviewpoint. It considers such issues as the links betweenthe working and living environment, protection of na-tional resources, deforestation, desertification, biodiver-sity, energy use and pollution, urbanization, managingwastes, transport and pollution. All will have an effect onthe working and living environment of workers and theirfamilies.

(The more “indirect” effects on the environment and sus-tainable development, such as social, political, eco-nomic and equality factors, are considered in the otherbooklets in this series.)

The issues covered in this booklet are discussed in greaterdetail in the ILO “Workers’ Education and Environment”booklets, available from ACTRAV, ILO. It is strongly recom-mended that readers look at these for more details in ad-dition to the brief overview that follows

Protection of nationalresources

Whether these are the oceans, seas and coastal areas,or forests and land, or energy resources, etc. they all forman essential part of the global life-support system, influ-encing food and other resources for the growing worldpopulation, as well as climate and the state of the at-mosphere.

When managed in a sustainable manner, lands, forests,oceans, etc., can produce goods and services to helpdevelopment. But many of these resources are presentlythreatened by uncontrolled degradation, pollution andconversion to other uses. Agricultural expansion, over-grazing or over-fishing, unsustainable logging, damagefrom pollution, greedy exploitation of minerals and en-ergy resources. . . all help to damage ecosystems andlivelihoods in the long-term.

As many as 70,000 square kilometresof farmland are abandoned each yearas a result of degradation, and about4 million hectares of rain-fed cropland

are lost annually to soil erosion.


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Forest In Europe 475,000 square kilometres of forest,an area larger than Germany, have been

damaged by air pollution. The resultingeconomic loss is about $35 billion a year,

equal to Hungary’s gross domestic product.

Every year, some 20 million hectares of tropicalforest are cleared outright or grossly degraded.

The UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 came upwith a “Statement on Forest Principles” to look at protec-tion of the world’s forests, and in particular the tropicalrain forests. (It was originally aimed to having a Conven-tion but this was abandoned under pressure from stateswith major forestry industries).

This statement basically says that forests, with their com-plex ecosystems are essential to economic develop-ment and the maintenance of all forms of life. They arethe source of wood, food and medicine; they act as res-ervoirs for water and for carbon that would otherwise getinto the atmosphere and act as a greenhouse gas; theyalso fulfill human cultural and spiritual needs.

The forest principles call for, among other things:

u a “greening” of the world through forest planting andconservation;

u countries’ rights to use forests for their social and eco-nomic development, but in a sustainable manner;

u profits from biotechnology products and genetic ma-terials taken from forests to be shared, on mutuallyagreed terms, with countries where the forests are lo-cated;

u environmentally sustainable management of forests,plantations and the areas around forests to provideemployment and reduce pressure to exploit old-growth forests;

u planning and implementation of national forest poli-cies to involve a wide variety of people and organiza-tions;

u trade measures to encourage local processing andhigher prices for processed products. Tariffs and otherbarriers to markets for such goods should be reducedor removed;


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u controls on pollutants, such as acid rain, that harmforests.


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Area deforested Rate of deforestation

Loss of tropical forests in developing regions 1980 - 1990

Area deforested(millions of hectares;annual average)

Rate of deforestation(%; annual average)

Source: World Bank 1992

DISCUSSION POINTS What policies and practices can your union pursueto help avoid deforestation:

u in your own country?

u in those from which you import timberproducts?

Desertification Desertification is the process of land degradation thatcan be caused by climate variations and by human im-pact, although human activities can have an effect onclimate on a global level and thus be a cause of climatechange also. It particularly affects dry lands that are al-ready ecologically fragile.

The problem is very large — 70% of all the world’s dry-lands, or 3.6 billion hectares, are already affected by de-sertification. This is one-quarter of the world’s land. Theimpacts include degradation of grazing land and a de-cline in food production, which in turn leads to povertyand starvation.

About 200 million peopleare severely affected by desertification

The UN Earth Summit in Rio came up with an InternationalConvention to Combat Desertification. A major featureof this Convention is its emphasis on the role of peopleand non-governmental organizations in local participa-tion in decision-making, information and awareness rais-ing on issues relating to land management. TheConvention is an agreement signed by 107 countries atpresent, and only 10 countries have ratified it, that ispromise to incorporate its provisions into national law. Itwill become a legally binding document when 50 coun-tries have ratified it.

Biodiversity Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is the wealth of life onEarth — the millions of plants, animals, microorganismsand their genes and habitats. Species are becoming ex-tinct at a rapid rate and habitats threatened throughoverexploitation and clearing of whole areas of forest,wetlands and land, use of toxic pesticides, pollution,hunting, etc.

About 150 species are being exterminated every dayand at least 25% of the world’s species may become ex-tinct or greatly reduced and confined to small areas bythe middle of the 21st century, according to the World-wide Fund for Nature. But if there are, as estimated, about10 million species does it really matter if some speciesare extinguished? Does it matter if some microorganismvanishes from the face of the Earth through human inter-ference?


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Apart from the fundamental worth of all species on Earthand their right to continued existence, their beauty valueand interest (to naturalists and tourist receipts amongothers), natural ecosystems provide humanity with manydirect economic values, including all of its food andmany of its medicines and industrial products. A largeportion of the protein in our diets comes straight from na-ture in the form of fish and animals. Timber, wood prod-ucts, rubber, spices, herbs, wild fruit, many kinds of oilsand organic chemicals, and the active ingredients in atleast one-third of prescription drugs come from wildplants, fungi and microorganisms. Many of humanity ’scrops were originally developed through selectivebreeding of wild grasses.


The socio-economic benefits of biodiversity

u About 4.5% of GDP in the United States (some $87 billion per year)is attributable to the harvest of wild species.

u In Asia, by the mid 1970s, genetic improvements had increasedwheat production by $2 billion and rice production by $1.5 billionper year by incorporating dwarfism into both crops.

u A “useless” wild wheat plant from Turkey was used to give diseaseresistance to commercial wheat varieties worth $50 million annu-ally to the United States alone.

u One gene from a single Ethiopian barley plant now protects Cali-fornia’s $160 million annual barley crop from yellow dwarf virus.

u An ancient wild relative of corn from Mexico can be crossed withmodern corn varieties with potential savings to farmers estimatedat $4.4 billion annually worldwide.

u In 1960, a child suffering from leukemia had only one chance infive of survival. Now the child has four chances in five, due to treat-ment with drugs containing active substances discovered in therosy periwinkle, a tropical forest plant originating in Madagascar.

Source: M.K. Tolba: Saving Our Planet —

Challenges and Hopes.

United Nations Environment

Programme

But perhaps the biggest value of biodiversity lies in theecological services provided by the interaction betweenorganisms and the environment, and which are essentialto the maintenance of human life but which are rarelyrecognised. These include the maintenance of the gase-ous quality of the atmosphere; climate regulation; recy-cling of nutrients, generation and maintenance of soils;control of the water cycle; pollination; and natural pestcontrol. If biodiversity is lost through human activities thenit can be expected that these essential services will alsobe thrown into disarray and the quality of life affected.

The Convention on Biological Diversity that came out ofthe Rio Earth Summit in 1992 gives countries rights overtheir biological resources, but also makes them responsi-ble for conserving their biological diversity and for usingtheir biological resources in a sustainable manner. It alsolooks at access to genetic materials and the sharing ofbenefits from commercial and other uses of genetic re-sources. It states that developing countries are to haveaccess to environmentally sound technologies that theyneed for the conservation and sustainable use of biodi-versity. This access will be under fair and most favourableterms and will recognize patent rights.


DISCUSSION POINTS Look at the above statistics and think about thefollowing questions:

u Where does it seem most of the world’sexploitable resources from living speciescomes from?

u Which countries can make most commercialuse of these resources?

u Can any aspect of the biodiversity of yourcountry be exploited commercially butsustainably and in a more equitable manner?

u What measures are needed to protectbiodiversity and ensure that your countrybenefits from its rightful resources?

Give examples with your answers.

Energy A major cause of deterioration of the environment is theunsustainable pattern of energy production and con-sumption. Industrialization and urbanization have led to arise in world energy exploitation — and an extremely un-even distribution on a world scale.

The most rapid growth of energy consumption is in devel-oping countries as they try to meet the needs of theirgrowing populations. But energy consumption per headin industrialized countries is about nine times that perhead in developing countries:

People in industrialized countries constitute a little morethan one-fifth of the world’s population but consumenearly nine times more commercial energy per headthan people in developing countries.

u Between 1965 and 1991 energy use per $100 of GDPwas cut dramatically from 168kg. of oil equivalent to25kg., through aggressive conservation measuresand more appropriate pricing policies.

u Developing countries’ contribution to global emis-sions is less than a quarter of that of industrializedcountries, even though their population is 3.5 timeslarger.


0 % 5 % 10 % 15 % 20 % 25 % 30 %

USA & Canada

Europe

Former USSR

China

Rest of Asia

Japan

Africa

Latin America

Middle East

India

Central America

Oceania

Shares of world energy consumption by region, 1990

Source: UN, 1990 Energy Statistics Yearbook, 1992

Future energy development will depend on its long-termavailability and the need to find a solution to the presentpattern of pollution by sulphur dioxide and carbon diox-ide from burning fossil fuels. This calls for a reassessmentof energy policy towards renewable sources of energyand a more efficient and productive use of energy.

The primary sources of energy today are non-renewable.Coal, the most readily available, is often also the mostpolluting. Renewable energy systems such as solar, windand geothermal power are increasing but are still in aprimitive state of development. Hydropower and woodas a specially grown fuel already have their place inworld energy supplies but their remaining potential for ex-pansion is huge. It has been estimated that renewableenergy resources could account for three-fifths of theworld’s electricity market, and two-fifths of the market forfuels used directly, by the middle of the 21st century.

The special role that nuclear power could play in reduc-ing pollution from carbon and sulphur emissions is offsetby its potential for serious accidents and the problems ofdisposing of nuclear waste.

The scope and need for energy saving measures is po-tentially much higher in industrialised countries.

Urbanization By the year 2000, half the world’s population will be livingin cities. The urbanization of society is part of the develop-ment process and cities generate about 60% of GNP.Rapid growth of cities can strain the capacity of munici-

pal authorities to cope withland use, city planning,public services, water sup-plies, waste disposal sys-tems, transport, housing,etc., which may lead towidespread ill-health. Ur-banization also has an ef-fect on the environmentthrough physical expan-sion of cities into goodfarming land, or often ontoecologically fragile land.Increased urban wastesand the need for fuel alsoput pressure on surround-ing land.


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WHEN IS A CITY HEALTHY?

A HEALTHY CITY:

u has a clean, safe physical environment;

u meets the basic needs of all its inhabitants;

u has a strong, mutually supportive, integrated, non-exploitative com-munity;

u involves the community in local government;

u offers its inhabitants access to a wide variety of experiences, interac-tion and communication;

u promotes and celebrates its historical and cultural heritage;

u provides easily accessible health services;

u has a diverse, innovative economy;

u rests on a sustainable ecosystem.

WHO: Healthy Cities for Better Life

DISCUSSION POINTS u Is migration to cities a problem in your country?

u Would improvements in rural living and workopportunities encourage poor people to staylocally? What improvements would benecessary for this?

u What do you see as necessary to reduce ubanpoverty and improve living standards in cities?

u What is the role of trade unions in theseimprovements?

Managing Wastes Managing wastes through reduction and recycling, ofboth hazardous industrial waste and sewage and gar-bage from cities, is also essential for environmental im-provement.

An increasing amount of hazardous waste isaffecting human health and the environment

Each year, as many as 5.2 million people, including 4 mil-lion children, die from diseases caused by improper dis-posal of sewage and solid waste. In developingcountries, less than 10% of urban wastes are treated, andonly a small proportion of that meets acceptable stan-dards. In industrialized nations, the amount of wastecould increase four- to five-fold by the year 2025.


Hazardous waste generation (late 1980s)

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

United States

OECD Europe

Eastern Europe

Rest of world

Waste generated (million tonnes/year)

Source: M.K. Tolba: Saving Our Planet - Challenges and Hopes

United Nations Environment Programme

Cleaner production Much can be done to reduce or eliminate hazardouswaste and other emissions from industrial and other ac-tivities, through the concept of “cleaner production”. Thismeans applying an integrated environmental strategy toprocesses and products to reduce risks to humans andthe environment.

Cleaner production thus includes conserving raw materi-als and energy, eliminating toxic raw materials, and re-ducing the quantity and toxicity of all emissions andwastes — before they leave a process. This will necessar-ily involve a shift from cleaning up or disposing of wastesand emissions at the “end-of-the-pipe” to a moreenvironmentally-friendly integrated approach. For prod-ucts, the strategy focuses on reducing impacts along theentire life cycle of the product, from raw material extrac-tion to the final disposal of the product.

Thus, cleaner production covers both processes andproducts and the impacts of both. It covers all wastes —hazardous or not — whether emitted into the air, water orland. The pathways to cleaner production require apply-ing know-how, improving technology and managerialskills, and changing attitudes and investment policy.

Waste disposal:a less viable

alternative

The costs of waste disposal are expected to double or tri-ple by the turn of the century as disposal sites fill up andstricter controls are imposed. This has led to a trade intoxic wastes, with industrialized countries paying devel-oping countries to take their hazardous waste, eventhough many developing countries do not have the fa-cilities to treat or store it safely.

This practice led to the adoption of the Basel Conventionon the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste.About 65 countries have ratified this Convention whichnow bans the shipment of hazardous waste ÿ20fromOECD to non-OECD countries. (OECD is the Organizationfor Economic Cooperation and Development, a group-ing of the richer nations of the world). Shipments of wastefor recycling are to be phased out and banned alto-gether by the end of 1997.

Several regional agreements also seek to restrict ship-ments of waste. For instance, the Fourth Lom‚ Conven-tion, which governs relations between the EuropeanUnion and associated states in Africa, the Caribbean andthe Pacific, bans the export of hazardous waste from theEU to those developing countries. Likewise, the Bamako


Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and theControl of Transboundary Movement and Managementof Hazardous Wastes within Africa was adopted in 1991.Like the Basel Convention, the Bamako Convention ad-dresses the generators of hazardous waste.

Waste management would be most effective therefore ifit is ensured that those who generate the wastes pay thefull cost of environmentally-safe disposal. This will makewaste reduction and recycling for resource recoverymore attractive.


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Producing

less waste is better

than disposing more


DISCUSSION POINTS Environmentally -sustainable work-and life-styles.

There is a great deal that can be done to reducewaste at all levels.

u What is your government’s policy on waste?Has it signed the Basel Convention on theTransboundary Movement of HazardousWaste?

u What is your local authority ’s policy onrecycling waste? Is waste sorted andcollected?

u If there were a local reduction in waste, whateffect would this have on some of the poorestmembers of society who may depend onscavenging and recuperating waste for aliving?

u Does the company where you work have anypurchasing and/or recycling policies in theinterests of environmental protection?

u Has it investigated cleaner productiontechniques and technologies? Was this done incooperation with your union?

u List the renewable and non-renewableresources in and around the place where youwork. Are they used well or not?

u Does your union have any purchasing and/orrecycling policies in the interests ofenvironmental protection?

u What can you, as an individual, do to reducewaste in your home?

Give examples with all your answers

Transport Motor vehicles are a major source of pollution, not onlyfrom exhaust emissions, but also through noise and theeffects of roads on the environment. The uncontrolledgrowth of traffic contributes to massive urban conges-tion; it is one of the main sources of global climatechange through emissions of “greenhouse gases”; and isan important cause of the increased demand for unre-newable fossil fuels. The real costs of motor vehiclesshould also include the cost of accidents, which are adrain on limited health care budgets in most countries.

It is therefore necessary to change the way transportationissues are approached. Legislation to reduce exhaustemissions, increased use of public transport, road pric-ing, siting of housing and community services and work-places to reduce commuting, are some of the possiblesolutions to the problem.

Pollution of air, soiland water

Millions of tonnes of pollutants are released into the air,soil and water each year from industrial sites, agriculture,municipal sewage systems, power stations, transport,etc. without significant restrictions from governments.

Air quality, for instance, is declining to such an extent thatthe health and well-being of large populations are at riskin many countries. The World Health Organization esti-mates that 600 million people live in urban areas wheresulphur dioxide pollution of the air exceeds its recom-mended limits.

What is true of air quality also applies to water and soil.“World Environment Issues”, booklet 4 in the ILO “Workers’

Education and Environment” series deals with these is-sues in more depth.

Acid rain, globalwarming, ozone

depletion — globalissues of pollution

While industrial, transportation and energy emissions canhave an impact on the environment at the local level,they can also impact on a global level. The truly globaleffects of pollution include “acid rain”; global warming,or the “greenhouse effect”; and ozone depletion. Allthese issues are also described in the ILO Workers’ Educa-tion and Environment booklet on “World Environment Is-

sues”.

Concern about the global effects of pollution has led toa wide range of international and regional agreements,as well as national requirements aimed at limiting emis-sions.


An international Convention on Long-Range Trans-boundary Air Pollution came into force in 1983, fol-

lowed by a Protocol on Sulphur Emissions in 1987.Signatories undertook to reduce their national emissionsof sulphur oxides by at least 30% by 1993. A similar Proto-col on Nitrous Oxide Emissions was also signed in 1988.Emissions have decreased considerably since theseConventions were adopted.

Efforts to combat ozone depletion in the upper atmos-phere (which acts as a natural filter to the sun’s harmful

ultra-violet radiation) have led to the Montreal Protocolon Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. This Pro-tocol calls for all industrialized countries to phase out pro-duction of the ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons byJanuary 1996, whilst giving developing nations longer toend production of them. The chemicals that are listed inthe Protocol and the time limits for ending production areconstantly reviewed and updated.

The United Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange is another global convention that came out ofthe 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. It states that countriesshould protect the world’s climate system for the benefitof present and future generations. Countries should en-act effective environmental legislation to control green-house gas emissions (such as carbon dioxide) andensure the functioning of natural processes (such as for-ests and oceans) that can remove some of the gasesfrom the atmosphere. It also says that most of the world’sgreenhouse gases come from industrialized nations andthat they should take the lead in combating climatechange and its adverse effects.

The livingenvironment:

a trade union issuelinked to the working

environment

Many trade unions have examined how they might playa more active role in the process of improving environ-mental protection and sustainable development. Thegrowing interest today in the general environment has,for us as trade unionists, partly grown out of the continu-ing problems that exist in the working environment.

The last decades have brought considerable growth inindustrial production and trade, particularly in develop-ing countries. Such growth has brought obvious benefits,but it has also brought risks of damage to the environ-ment and human health, especially around factoriesand mines, which is also where workers and their familieslive.


While industry is essential for the development of anycountry, the pattern of industrial production in develop-ing countries has been towards more capital-intensiveactivities such as chemicals, metals, machinery andequipment. These heavy industries have always been themost polluting and demanding on the local environ-ment, in contrast to light industries, and are thereforelikely to have most impact on the living environment ofworkers and their families living nearby.

The character of day-to-day activities in other sectors ofthe economy — transport pollution, chemical use in agri-culture, energy use and pollution, etc. — also shows thatit is increasingly difficult to isolate the working environ-ment from the general environment.

The connection between the living and the working envi-ronment is perhaps easiest to see in the case of a majoraccident, such as the Bhopal disaster in India in 1984, inwhich over 4,000 people have died as a result of a leakof deadly methyl isocyanate gas. The Chernobyl nucleardisaster in 1986 released a plume of radioactivity overmuch of Eastern, Central and Western Europe, renderingthe immediate countryside unlivable since, and causingextensive environmental damage in its tracks elsewhere.These, and any industrial accident with loss of local life,prove that the factory gate is not an effective barrieragainst workplace chemicals and other agents.

But relatively few workers and their families die in major in-dustrial accidents compared with the number who diefrom “routine” accidents and pollution. The quiet and of-ten unseen daily build-up of poisons from leaks, spills,dumping of wastes, and normal operating practiceshave much more impact on local rivers, farm land andair than any single disaster that may hit the headlines. Ad-ditionally, pollution knows no national boundaries.

Workers must, of course, be protected againsthazards in the workplace. But even the bestworkplace health and safety provisions lose

much of their value if workers and their familiesare exposed off-duty to the same pollutants by

the very activities that provide their living.


Pollution in rivers and in the air from work activities can becarried into other countries through shared waterwaysand on the wind. Agricultural chemicals that are not eas-ily broken down, for instance, can be carried thousandsof kilometres on the wind, only to be deposited at theother side of the globe, mainly in colder climates as they“condense” out of the air. In this way, toxic pesticidessuch as DDT sprayed in tropical countries have beenfound in the fatty tissues of indigenous Inuit populationswho eat contaminated fish and marine mammals inAlaska and Canada.


DISCUSSION POINTS u What environmental problems are youexperiencing in your living environment?Consider air, water, chemicals, wastedumping, housing and population problems.

u Are these problems related to what ishappening in different workplaces in thecommunity? How?

u What can be done to solve these problems?

u What is the role of the trade unions?

Environment andemployment

The problem is not all one-way, however. The general en-vironment will also have an effect on industry and jobs. Ifthe environment degrades to such an extent that it canno longer be used for direct resources or for industrial pro-cesses, such as for cooling water, then industry will ofcourse be very much affected. If the local living environ-ment is polluted to the extent that workers and their fami-lies become ill with respiratory problems, for instance,then their work and productivity will suffer. Then again,laws to protect and improve the environment will neces-sarily mean upgrading some industries, and these mayuse this as an excuse to relocate to another area with lessstrict environmental legislation, leaving redundant work-ers and their families behind.

Environmental protection and job creation or mainte-nance are therefore often seen by workers to be incom-patible. But the underlying principle is that it is not aquestion of environment or jobs. Unless we can secureboth environmental protection and safe, socially useful,individually fulfilling and freely-chosen employment, wewill fail to secure either in the long-term.

The simplistic formula “pollution equals jobs,pollution control equals job losses" disregardsthe positive role of trade unions in promotingmanpower planning, training and retraining

and social support in industrial change.

The role of tradeunions in workplace

environmentalprotection

Trade unions are, by definition, work-based organizations,and it is at the level of the workplace that they are mosteffective and most experienced. Furthermore, unions areincreasingly seeing the environment as a workplace issue— it will not be taken seriously by members if it is notrooted in their workday concerns. It is, of course, of globalconcern, but if we, as trade unionists, can tackle the is-sues that are of concern to workers directly, we will be wellon the way to addressing the larger agenda.

In addition, many workers are environmental victims atwork and in the community, or are seen as the producersof environmental pollution and degradation. (Eventhough company policies may be at fault, the workermay be the most visible element in industrial and otherwork activities on the environment.)


Trade unions are thus in the front line when it comes to theimpact of work on the environment. They also have theorganization, experience and commitment to identifythe problems and to seek practical solutions.

A healthy environmentdepends on a healthy

workplace

The working environment forms an importantand integral part of the general environment

as a whole and ... improvements in theworking environment will enhance

the quality of the latter.

ILO Resolution on environment, development,

employment and the role of the ILO

In some countries this work on environmental protectionhas already begun and has been linked to another long-standing union concern — occupational health andsafety.

Consider the following facts and figures taken from theWorld Health Organization’s “Global Strategy on Occupa-tional Health for All”:

u About 120 million workplace accidents, resulting inmore than 200,000 deaths are estimated to occurannually in the world, and 68 -157 million new casesof work-related diseases are caused by various typesof occupational exposures.

u 40-50% of the world’s population is at risk from physi-cal, chemical, biological, psychosocial or ergo-nomic hazards.

u Globally, about 100,000 chemicals, some 50 physi-cal factors, 200 biological agents, and 20 adverse er-gonomic conditions, as well as incalculable numbersand types of psychological and social problems con-tribute to hazardous working conditions leading to oc-cupational injuries, diseases and stress reactions, jobdissatisfaction and lack of well-being.

u About 300-350 different agents have been identifiedas occupational carcinogens, including benzene,chromium, nitrosamines, asbestos, ultraviolet radia-tion, ionising radiation, aflatoxins. The most commonoccupational cancers include cancer of the lung,bladder, skin and bone.


u Most of the 3,000 or so identified allergenic factorswhich can cause dermatitis and respiratory diseases,including asthma, occur at work. The registerednumber of allergy-causing substances is growingsteadily in industrialized countries.

u About 30-50% of the workers in industrialized countriescomplain of psychological stress and overload,which are associated with sleep disturbances and de-pression and increased risk of cardiovascular disease,especially hypertension.

u In the least developed countries, occupationalhealth and safety problems occur mainly in agricul-ture and other types of primary production. Heavyphysical work, heat stress, occupational accidents,pesticide poisonings, exposure to organic dusts arefrequently agravated by non-occupational factorssuch as nutritional problems, chronic parasitic and in-fectious diseases, poor hygiene and sanitation, pov-erty and illiteracy.

u 90-95% of workers in developing countries, and 50-80% in industrialized countries, with a few exceptions,do not have access to adequate occupationalhealth services.

In most cases these chemical, and physical and biologi-cal agents that are of concern in the workplace are alsoof environmental concern. In this respect, environmentalpollution can be seen as a manifestation of an occupa-tional health problem, and workers’ health is an environ-mental problem with an occupational aspect. This factalone calls for effective integration of workplace healthand safety and environmental issues in trade union work.


The ultimate objective of occupational health is a healthy and safe andsatisfactory work environment and a healthy, active and productive worker,free from both occupational and non-occupational diseases and capa-ble and motivated to carry out his or her daily job by experiencing job satis-faction and developing both as a worker and as an individual.

WHO: Global strategy on occupational health for all

If we look at the activity below we will be able to see thatenvironmental and workplace consequences can bevery closely linked. Some will have obvious connections,but others may be harder to see. We will also see thatsome issues may be more confined to the working envi-ronment. If we take the case of “noise”, for example, thismay be the cause of hearing problems and stress in theworkplace, but its effects on the surrounding environmentmay be negligeable. This may not always be true, de-pending on your particular workplace. Airport workers, forinstance, know that the noise they experience at workalso affects the surrounding community. Similarly, if wetake the case of lighting, it may be good in the workplacebut there may be opportunities for energy saving, thuseasing the strain on natural resources. Cleaner produc-tion might require the use of better technology which inturn might affect employment. There is thus plenty ofscope for original thinking and innovative action strate-gies and negotiation points at the workplace.



ACTIVITY: LINKING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS TOOCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

AIMS:

u to help you look at the links between health and safety issues andthe environmental impact of your workplace;

u to help you think about workplace solutions to environmental prob-lems.

TASK:

u Make a list of some of the more important factors of occupa-tional health and safety that affect you and your family at workand at home.

To help you in this task you could use one or more of the followingmethods to determine what hazards in your workplace affect the envi-ronment:

• use a checklist to inspect your workplace and living environment;

• survey colleagues and local community for their opinions;

• use accident and sickness records;

You will probably need to put some kind of priority on the problems youcome up with to limit your choice in the first instance.

u For each priority issue, decide what effect, if any, it has on thegeneral environment or vice-versa.

u Think about what you and your union can do to bring about im-provements. Think about immediate improvements, such as re-pairs, and also longer term policies arising from negotiations,campaigns, etc.

You may like to use the following table to help you organize your ideas:

Issue Effect on

workers/families

Effect on

environment

Action to be

taken

Logically, trade unions in many countries are pressing forthe rights they have won in occupational health andsafety to be extended to the environmental policies ofcompanies and governments. This involvement in envi-ronmental matters mirrors the unions’ earlier campaignsand role and competences in occupational health andsafety.

Just as they have won the right to know what workplacehazards they are exposed to, and the right to decidewhether to accept those risks in the workplace in somecountries, so should their members, as workers and citi-zens, be able to demand the same rights with respect tothe environment. Not only are environmental mattersbest promoted at the workplace, from where much pol-lution comes, but workers can also draw on their knowl-edge of work processes and products to help resolvethese issues.

Joining a union cansave your life — and

your environment

The importance of this involvement at workplace levelhas been shown in by different studies in the USA and theU.K. which show that involvement of union health andsafety representatives reduce workplace injury rates. Ac-cording to a United States study trade unions dramati-cally increase enforcement of the Occupational Healthand Safety Act; workplaces that are unionized are morelikely to receive health and safety inspections; inspec-tions are more thorough; and they pay higher fines fornon-compliance than do non-unionized workplaces.

This is because union health and safety programmes pro-vide members with training and detailed informationwhich make them better equipped to identify risks requir-ing action — especially important in areas where govern-ment inspection services are inadequate.

The same will hold true for environmental work. The suc-cesses concerning health and safety that have beenregistered in many countries have been due to the im-portance that unions have given to health and safetyand the resources they have devoted to it.

So will environmental efforts require the development ofstructures such as environmental committees or extend-ing the role of workplace health and safety committees.Both these strategies have their advantages and disad-vantages, and it will be up to your union to decide whichwould work best in your local situation. Expanding the roleof the health and safety committee may be safer than


stepping into the unknown, and, as we have seen, the is-sues are closely linked anyway. It could be, however, thatthe health and safety committee is already overworked,in which case enough time and energy must be devotedto helping it.

On the other hand, as the other booklets in this seriesshow, environmental issues go well beyond traditionalhealth and safety issues, and many unions may see aneed for special committees on the environment.

Workplace environment committee orexpanding the role of the health and safety

committee? The precise nature of the structureis not as important as the need for it to be a

genuine joint union/management committee.

Eco-auditing:identifying problems

and monitoringenvironmentalperformance

One of the skills that union representatives will need to de-termine the environmental hazards at the workplace andto improve the environmental performance of a com-pany is the ability to carry out environmental, or eco-audits.

Just as a health and safety representative is trained tolook for hazards at the workplace by using a checklist, sotraining in environmental skills will allow the representativeto look at the environmental impact of a company’sproducts and processes. An environmental audit goesfurther than a health and safety inspection, however. Itlooks not just at risks at the workplace, potential pollutionsources and what is being done to reduce them, but alsoat a company’s own “green” policies, and response to lo-cal concerns about the environment. The activity foundabove on linking environmental concerns to workplaceissues can form the basis for thinking about an environ-mental audit.

What an audit should cover will depend on your ownworkplace but a typical audit would aim to assess everypoint of interaction of the company with the environmentand which could lead to improvements through negotia-tions. This would involve at least the following points:

u product planning — design, packaging, use and re-use, life-span, disposal;

u selection and use of raw materials — are they usedefficiently, are there more environmentally-friendly al-ternatives?


u production processes — could they be safer orhealthier or more environmentally sound?

u energy efficiency — power, heat, lighting, ventilation,insulation;

u safe storage — of products, raw materials and inter-mediates, especially chemicals;

u transportation — the use of safe and environmentallyfriendly transport of raw materials, chemicals, com-ponents, workforce;

u reduction and elimination of emissions and,other nui-sances — not just toxic and harmful emissions, butalso smells, noise, etc;

u accident prevention and procedures in the event ofan emergency;

u training requirements and information needed byworkers and local community.

An example of a checklist, some of the questions that willhave to be asked when assessing risks to the working andliving environment, is to be found in booklet 5 “The NewBargaining Agenda” in the ILO “Workers’ Education andEnvironment” series.



An environmental audit:

u evaluates and helps improve environmental performance;

u identifies potential efficiency gains and improves effective use of re-sources;

u forms the basis for workplace and company target-setting;

u promotes exchange of information internally and externally;

u increases awareness and participation of trade union members;

u helps assess training needs;

u identifies employment trends;

u improves health and safety at work;

u promotes a healthy living environment;

u promotes enforcement of laws, regulations and company policy;

u improves public confidence and community links;

u enhances management/union cooperation.

After information:action

Only after we have identified the problems can we takeaction to improve the situation and protect our membersand their families from the environmental consequencesof work.

Environmental agreementsat the workplace

Above all, this will mean approaching the employer toset up a joint working group to consider environmental is-sues, to carry out regular joint audits and to negotiate im-provements. Your union can negotiate a “green”agreement at the workplace based on the informationyou have collected through your work with checklists, etc.(More details on environmental agreements can be seenin booklet 5 “The New Bargaining Agenda” in the ILOWorkers’ Education and Environment" series). It could bea separate agreement or one that is incorporated withinthe current collective agreement, but it should cover atleast the following basic points:

u setting up a joint structure for discussion and negotia-tion;

u conduct and timing of regular meetings and extraor-dinary meetings;

u provision of information, for example, on company in-vestment in ÿ20environmental protection, pollutionand emissions, incidents, compliance with regula-tions and company policy, changes to work pro-cesses, etc;

u the question of confidentiality of information (in so faras it does not compromise either the company or theunion in carrying out their obligations);

u recourse to expert assistance;

u education of workers, and training of union environ-ment representatives (preferably on paid leave);

u joint environmental audits;

u company commitment to the highest possible stan-dards of environmental protection;

u company commitment to participation of workers inenvironmental policy-making;

u obligation to provide necessary information to the lo-cal community.



The San Miguel Corporation, Philippines:an example of a joint environment policy

The San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is the biggest food, beverage and packagingcompany in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. It prides itself as a trailblazer in en-vironmental protection, as its policy on the environment outlined below shows.Above all, it recognizes the indispensable role of labour in realizing and sustainingthe company’s goals and programmes on the environment, and provides forbroad participation of its employees through the collective bargaining process.

Corporate Policy on the Environment

San Miguel Corporation is committed to environmental protection and preserva-tion as a requisite for sustainable development and for long-term socio-economic benefits to present and future generations. Thus, SMC actively contrib-utes towards a clean and thriving environment for the well-being of its communi-ties, employees, consumers and the nation. Total Environmental Quality is a keyphilosophy which reflects how SMC sources its raw materials and manufactures,packages, distributes and markets its wide range of products.

Consistent with its mission of responsible stewardship of the environment, SMCadopts a holistic approach by:

u exercising leadership in providing environment-friendly manufacturing pro-cesses, products and packaging;

u actively developing innovative and practical techniques in managing envi-ronmental issues related to its businesses and;

u supporting and implementing programmes which involve the sustainable useof resources, waste management and pollution prevention.

To reinforce the above approach, we shall:

u heighten environmental awareness among our employees and encouragethem to take the lead roles in environmental quality within and outside theirworkplaces;

u meet or exceed environmental standards and become a role model in regu-latory compliance, while continuously enhancing our environmental technol-ogy;

u foster collaboration within the San Miguel Group, with external environmentalgroups, the government and our host communities to maximize the effective-ness of our initiatives and;

u share our environmental policy with various stakeholders as a potential posi-tive influence on their own environmental responsibility.

National levelrepresentation

At national level union representation is also needed indecision-making processes on environmental issues — inadopting serious environmental standards for industryand other economic activities, or for negotiatingindustry-level agreements.

An important first step towards this bipartite or tripartitenegotiation at national level is developing a comprehen-sive union policy on the environment. The aim of this andthe other booklets in this series is precisely to facilitatetrade unions in their discussions to form a policy and ac-tion plan on their priority issues concerning environmen-tally sustainable development. A union policy shouldoutline a number of specific steps that the union cantake to expand its role in this area. It should help both theleadership and the members, especially environmentalnegotiators, to understand what the union means by en-vironmentally sustainable development, what its immedi-ate and long-term aims are for this, and what thestrategies will be for achieving its goals.

Unions will then have to advance the interests of theirmembers as set out in its policy in all national develop-ment plans and strategies. They will have to ensure thatdecision-making, whether on the environment, industrialstrategies, employment policies, technology transfers oreducation programmes, is undertaken with a high de-gree of trade union input.

Such tripartite collaboration — with government and em-ployers — is most efficient when applied to issues inwhich all three parties have joint interests. The issues andchallenges explored in this and the other booklets lendthemselves very well to tripartism. In this respect, as withcollective bargaining, it is important to present a unifiedfront during negotiations and consultations, and the roleof trade unions at the national level will be strengthenedby their capacity to collaborate with other partners suchas other unions and non-governmental organizations.



ACTIVITY: WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

June 5 has been designated as World Environment Day. Each year,this day helps provide a fresh focus on the problems and solutionsrelating to environmental issues, through activities of differentorganizations at local, national and international level.

Think about how your union could participate in World Environment Day:

u What particular issues would the union like to bring to the attention of thegeneral public?

u Look for ways to make environmental issues focus on the workplace.

u Link environmental issues to health and safety issues when it makessense.

u Arrange a campaign in your community on one of the main issues youhave identified, using, for example, an exhibition, posters, hand-outs,banners.

u Develop coalitions with other unions, environmental groups and em-ployers in your campaign.

Participate in the next World Environment Day!!

FURTHER READING

u ILO “Workers’ Education and Environment ” booklets.ACTRAV, ILO

u EnvironmentandtheWorldofWork:Reportof theDirector-General, International Labour Conference, 77th Session,1990

u ILO Resolution concerning environment, development,employment and the role of the ILO, 1990

u The Practical Role of Trade Unions in Improving Environ-mental Protection and Sustainable Development. Back-ground paper to the Symposium on Workers’ Educationand the Environment. October 1993, ILO

u EarthSummitAgenda21: TheUnitedNationsProgrammeof Action From Rio. UN, New York

u Our Common Future. The World Commission on Environ-ment and Development, Geneva, Switzerland

u Joint Labour-Management Initiatives on Environment.Report from the Philippines for the ILO InterDepartmentalProject on Environment and the World of Work

u ILO Resolution concerning the promotion of measuresagainst risks and accidents arising out of the use of dan-gerous substances and processes in industry.ILO, 1985

u Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents. An ILO code ofpractice, 1991

u Your Health and Safety at Work. A modular training pack-age, comprising 11 modules and an instructor’s guide.ACTRAV, ILO, 1996

u Safety,HealthandWorkingConditions:A TrainingManual.ILO 1987

u Safety and Health in the Use of Agrochemicals: A Guide.ILO 1991

u Low-cost Ways of Improving Working Conditions: 100 Ex-amples From Asia. K. Kogi et al. ILO 1989

u Environment Action Programme,1993, Public Services In-ternational, 01211, Ferney-Voltaire, France

u The Natural Resources Myth. Economist, Dec 23 - Jan 5,1996


ILO publications can be

obtained through major

booksellers, or ILO local

offices in many countries,

or direct from

ILO Publications,

International Labour Office,

CH-1211 Geneva 22,

Switzerland,

A catalogue or list of new

publications will be sent free

of charge from the above

address.

u Incentives for the Ecologically Sustainable Use of Humanand Natural Resources in the Dry-lands of Sub-SaharanAfrica. C. Perrings. ILO 1991

u Our Planet, Our Health. World Health Organisation, 1211Geneva 27

u Forest Action Programme. International Federation ofBuilding and Wood Workers, ICC Building A,1215 Geneva 15



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NotesNotes

booklet 1 environmental indicators of development · booklet 1 environmental indicators of...

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