Samoa took the international stage on labour matters as the Co – Chair of the International Advisory Board for Climate Action for Job Initiatives. Honorable Minister, Afioga Leatinu’u Wayne So’oialo chaired the second annual ILO International Advisory Board Meeting held early morning (3am) of Saturday 9th October.
Hon. Leatinu’u as the Minister of the Ministry of Commerce Industry and Labour (MCIL) co-chairs the Advisory Board with the Minister of Labour for Spain. Samoa was voted to this position in the Advisory Board’s first meeting last year, as the representative of the Asia Pacific Regional.
The International Advisory Board for Climate Action for Job Initiatives was established to support the Paris Agreement on Climate Change adopted in 2015.
The Board reinforces the need for ‘just transition’ aligned with global goals to ensure that workers and firms affected by the transformation to carbon-neutral economies are adequately supported and that opportunities for the creation of decent and green jobs are fully captured.
At this important meeting the Hon. Leatinu’u had to ensure that the meeting and all members of the Advisory Board were well informed on updates from the Secretariat on the progress and challenges arising from the implementation of Climate Action for Job Initiative in 2021 and the forecast of aspirations that the Initiative aims to deliver and achieve for 2023.
The Hon. Minister also ensured that the Advisory Board provided advice and guidance to issues and other matters raised by its members.
The insightful interventions form the Board members emphasized the fact that sustainable development can power a human-centered approach to the future of work, to transform the economies and societies, maximizes opportunities for decent work, reduces inequalities, promotes social justice and support industries, enterprises, workers and communities.
There was consensus that ‘just transition’ matters for every country, at all levels of development. While significant progress has been made to address climate change, the required scale of change needed to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 is not yet enough and has been significantly impacted by Covid-19.
Regional Ministers, Presidents and delegations from five regions as well as International Bodies were given the floor for their interventions based on their current activities and programmes, and on their proposed initiatives that require ILO assistance and UN attention.
Before moving into the agenda of the meeting, the Hon. Leatinu’u respectfully greeted the members with an introduction of his role as the Minister for MCIL, under the new Government of Samoa.
He reiterated the sentiments conveyed by Honorable Prime Minister; Fiame Naomi Mataafa at the United Nations General Assembly Debate, in relation to climate action, multilateral systems, partners and institutions need to heed the continued call for tailored and specific solutions to our unique vulnerabilities.
He also emphasized the importance of developing concrete action plans, enabling real change and improved livelihoods of our communities and regions.
He said that as part of the Alliance of Small Island States it would be remiss of him as the Chairman not to highlight the vulnerabilities due to the impacts of climate change.
He added that efforts and solutions to reduce global emissions must not only have job creation at its center but must be complemented by ensuring climate finance for frontline countries. He strongly supports the addition of states from the Asia Pacific Region and most particularly Small Island States to the country on-boarding program in 2022.
Furthermore, he relayed Samoa’s commitment to officially launch the initiative in the Asia Pacific region, to scale up climate action and build leadership locally. He said that advocacy is the key across all members to create value and willingness amongst stakeholders including donors to guarantee sufficient resourcing and therefore successful delivery of activities.
In closing the meeting, Hon. Leatinu’u acknowledged the hard work of the Secretariat of ILO Headquarter and its Office in Samoa.