ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners and the labour movement must come together to bring about a just green transition in Britain, trade unionists said today, warning that workers across the country are already on the front line of tackling the climate emergency.

As the Cop26 conference in Glasgow passed its midway point today, fringe events welcomed trade union leaders, who underlined the importance of co-operative campaigning to ensure that workers are given a seat at the table.

Speaking at the Just Transition Hub — organised as part of the Cop26 Coalition People’s Summit — STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said that workers must reclaim the language of a just transition from corporations and governments. 

Ms Foyer said a just transition is more than identifying which industries will struggle and may need reform. “It is a fundamental rethink of how we transition our economy,” she said.

“That means we need to have a fairer distribution of work, income and wealth for workers — we need to be in the rooms where these decisions are being made.”

Laura Pidcock, chair of the People’s Assembly, said protests and events outside Cop26 have shown what a mass movement could look like.

And Asad Rehman, director of War on Want, said the only truly internationalist movement is the labour movement, which would be key to any move away from fossil fuels. 

He said: “For those on the front line, this is not something happening in the future, it is happening now.”

Scottish secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) Denise Christie said that severe weather, flooding and wildfires are increasingly prevalent, already limiting workers’ effectiveness during emergencies and weakening public services. 

“We need investment in our public services to respond to this emergency,” she said. “We are dealing with this now, we were dealing with it 10 years ago. 

“My members are looking at what they can do now, but that attitude is extremely difficult if you don’t have the resources there to respond.”

Speaking at an event hosted by Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace & Justice Project, FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said that climate change is already an industrial issue, with firefighters losing their lives across the world and communities in Britain devastated. He called for practical action and investment to ensure workers are prepared.