SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF MALAWI CONGRESS OF TRADE UNIONS (MCTU)-MR. LUTHER MAMBALA AT MULANJE COMMUNITY CENTRE GROUND ON 5th JUNE 2008-WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY. I feel exceedingly honored and profoundly humbled to address this gathering on the behalf of the workers in Malawi on this occasion where we are cerebrating World Environment Day.
Since 1990, the authoritative reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) a body that was established by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) confirm a scientific consensus that to a greater extent human activities are contributing to rising levels of Green House Gases (GHG) in the atmosphere thereby capturing infrared radiation from the sun and preventing excess energy from escaping the atmosphere. This has resulted into global warming of almost 1 degree Celsius within the last 100 years. According to the 4 th IPCC Report of November 2007, without decisive international action the global temperature could rise by 1.1 to 6.4 degrees Celsius in the 21st Century. This would represent the fastest rise in 10, 000 years.
As already alluded to climate change is a defining issue in this day and age. As the international theme for this year which reads “Kick the Bad Habit Towards Low Carbon Economy” suggests, considerable attention should be focused on green house emissions and how to reduce them. But specifically why are we the workers deeply concerned with environmental issues and climate change to be specific? As a way of answering this question, let me draw your attention to how climate change poses a threat on the welfare of the workers.
Following in-depth analysis of climate change, trade unions or workers at large are very well informed that workers across the world will greatly be affected by measures to combat climate change through market or regulatory measures including the use of new technologies or the reorganization of social and economic activities altogether. For instance, it is reported that three quarters of green house gas emissions come from the
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manufacturing industry, energy production and supply and transportation and construction sectors. We should therefore be mindful of the fact that interventions to reduce the green house emissions or rather climate change will have adverse impacts on these sectors and the workers in these sectors. This ladies and gentlemen should very well explain why climate change poses to be a bitter pill to swallow as far as the workers and the labour movement in Malawi atlarge are concerned.
The massage that i bring to you coming from the workers constituency under the banner of the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) is that climate change being a global problem, there is need to priotise global solidarity that should start at local and national level. What has happened today at this function where in our amidst we have officials from the government ministries and departments, Members of Parliament, Traditional Leaders, representatives from the Private Sector, NGOs, CBOs, Donor community, Media Educational institutions is a very good gesture of solidarity in this regard. For this, Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) specifically commends the Malawi Government through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources for facilitating this sort of solidarity that has been manifest today by organizing this auspicious event.
Lastly let me assure you all who are gathered here that workers in Malawi under the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions are very much committed towards intensifying actions on climate change such as building support for strong Green House Gas (GHG) target reductions policies and convincing government and the private sector to adopt effective measures that are sensitive to the welfare of workers as we combat this global challenge before us.
With these few remarks I say thank you very much for paying your attention!!
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