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Workers must be at the heart of plans to end fossil fuel usage, Cop26 told

WORKERS must be at the forefront of any shift in energy policy both at home and abroad, campaigners said today as governments discussed moves to end fossil fuel usage at Cop26 in Glasgow. 

Talks at the UN climate summit today focused on the future of energy policy and pledges to reduce the reliance on coal, oil and gas to tackle the climate emergency. 

Delegates from more than 20 countries, including the US, Canada, Mali and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct public finance for unabated coal, oil and gas by 2023 and prioritise clean energy finance.

The joint statement could see the direct shift of more than $15 billion (£12.8bn) a year of government-backed support out of fossil fuels and into clean energy. 

Summit president Alok Sharma said workers, trade unions and local businesses must be involved in the process to achieve a socially just transition.

He underlined the importance of getting the help of these groups, also, to design “a green, and what we describe as a fair, future.”

But campaigners hit out at the “hypocritical” Tory government which supports new drilling, including at the Cambo oilfield near Shetland, with Scottish Green MSP Mark Ruskell saying that new oilfield plans “fly in the face of their Cop26 rhetoric.”

Daniel Willis, climate campaigner at Global Justice Now, said: “This joint statement is welcome and necessary progress in the struggle to shift public finances away from fossil fuels, but that should not distract us from the challenges ahead. 

“Hopefully we will now see the UK government get its own house in order by ending trade and development finance for all gas power and rescinding licences for North Sea oil exploration.”

International climate groups also shared their concerns about the prospect of workers being left behind. 

Tasneem Essop, executive director of Climate Action Network International, said: “Shutting fossil fuels down is critical for tackling the climate crisis. 

“This public money needs to be urgently redirected into a just energy transition that ensures clean universal energy access for communities in the global South and support for communities and coal, oil and gas workers without saddling countries with any further debt.”

Governments from across the globe were urged to sign on, with activists describing the defunding of fossil fuels as a matter of human rights. 

Katharina Rall, senior environment researcher with Human Rights Watch, said: “All governments need to urgently end all support for fossil fuels and ensure a just transition to affordable clean energy to help prevent catastrophic climate impacts on human rights.”

The calls came as UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said governments should stop subsidising fossil fuels and hand the money to people who need it, claiming oil and gas producers “distort the market and penalise renewable energy.”

Philip Evans, oil campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: “[Workers] need a government that values them and their abilities and will not let them go to waste, as the UK did with our coal mining communities. 

“We’ve yet to see serious, full-scale commitments to a just transition anywhere, but the UK, with our history of important mistakes to learn from, really should be leading the way.”

Scottish Labour MSP Mercedes Villalba welcomed the talks in Glasgow, underlining that any transition cannot be undertaken “at the expense of workers who rely on carbon-intensive sectors for their jobs and livelihoods.”

She reiterated calls for the creation of “a publicly owned, energy company to direct investment into greener energy sources, reduce energy costs for consumers and deliver well-paid, high-skilled and secure green jobs for workers.”

The MSP is among a number of campaigners who are calling for the introduction of an offshore training passport to help workers use their existing skills and prevent them being left behind.

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