Dear trade union friends,
I would very much like to be present at the Second Trade Union Assembly on Labour and Environment and take part in all the discussions being held at this time. Unfortunately I am still recovering from my medical treatment, which has meant that my schedule at the Conference is rather limited.
Rio+20 is a golden opportunity for both rulers and civil society to discuss the future we wish to build for the whole of humanity. In particular, for a huge number of people who are only now beginning to have access to decent living conditions, as well as millions of others who are still completely excluded from any right to subsistence and do not even have enough food to meet their basic daily needs.
The scientific and technological progress we have achieved should be enough to put an end to world hunger. Above all else, discussions on economically sustainable development are about how to feed the whole planet. This means finding a way to develop our economies by taking advantage of the wealth of nature and reclaiming areas spoilt by the action of humans or climate phenomena.
In this struggle, my dear comrades, you can count on me. I hope you have a happy end to the Assembly and an excellent Conference.
Many of the major companies file their sustainability reports without conscience. And their approach to the workers whose labour fuels their profits is criminal.Ask any CEO if they would like their sons or daughters to work in the textile factories in Pakistan, the mines in the Congo, manufacturing plants in Central America, or as beer women in Cambodia, and they shudder.
Europe’s crisis is manifold: while newspapers focus on public deficits and debt, Austerity policies and wage cuts are boosting poverty and inequality in many parts of Europe
New technologies have sometimes had very harmful effects, but in many cases the early warning signs have been suppressed or ignored
The decision was adopted in response to EU Commission consultation on unconventional fossil fuels in Europe
