TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint.

More than 10,000 delegates and observers from around the world traveled to Bali, Indonesia, for the U.N. Climate Change Conference from Dec. 3-14. Of the 90 union delegates, more than 20 were from North America, including Roger Toussaint, president of Transport Workers (TWU) Local 100 in New York, who sent us the following post. Delegates sent us a series of posts from the conference: here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Asthma rates in many urban areas are up sharply. Health care costs associated with other upper respiratory and cardiopulmonary diseases also are on the rise. Wildfires in California. Hurricane Katrina. Everywhere we see the impact of environmental hazards and climate change on our population and our lives.

Science tells us that the window is rapidly closing for us to act to stop the increase in the release of greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for these problems. We will then need to begin to reduce these emissions. If we do not act to do so immediately and going forward, we will reach a level of climate instability that could end life as we know it. This is not a test. Global warming is real and climate change is happening.

This is what Bali and the Kyoto process is about. This huge United Nations gathering was organized under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The 1992 treaty set up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of more than 2,000 scientists from around the world studying the changes taking place in our environment. These scientists say we must reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050 to keep global warming under control. The hope is that the Bali negotiations will establish a roadmap for a global effort to achieve this daunting but realizable goal.

The challenge is especially urgent for us as Americans and for those who speak for labor. Most developed, developing and less-developed countries have signed on to the Kyoto Treaty—with the exception of the United States, which is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. The next phase of the Kyoto process will begin in 2012. We, therefore, bear a special burden—to help bring our nation back to the table as soon as possible. Without the United States, any global agreement is useless.

By coming to Bali, U.S. labor has shown that it will play its part in developing a truly global response to the climate crisis. Several AFL-CIO affiliates and SEIU were part of a 20-strong presence. Our group was part of a larger delegation put together by the 168-million member International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The U.S. group is the largest and most diverse ever to participate in the climate treaty’s annual meeting, known as the Conference of Parties (COP).

This is in recognition of the urgency of the situation.

We have to rise to the challenge of climate change by making it a key priority for our unions. A trade union agenda, rooted in the organized strength of workers and day-to-day engagement in affected communities, can help transition our society to a low-carbon future. This will bring “green” employment in such areas as public transportation, which is critically important now and in the years ahead.

I firmly believe all leaders of America’s working people must take immediate steps to familiarize themselves and their organizations with the issues involved and figure out the obligations of their appropriate job sectors. Nationally, the union movement must take the lead in shaping policy and legislation needed in this area. We need meaningful engagement and decisive action. We are on borrowed time, but the chance to make our mark on the process is there for the taking.

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