Documents Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung 783 results

"The introduction of legally binding corporate due diligence obligations in Germany and a number of other countries has brought about a paradigm shift. With voluntary commitments no longer sufficient, businesses are now subject to legal requirements that protect people and the environment in global supply chains. Supply chain legislation therefore plays a crucial role on the path towards making the global economy sustainable, resilient and more socially just. While most of the supply chain laws passed in the last decade have been national legislation, progressive forces from politics, trade unions, civil society and business achieved a breakthrough in 2024 with the adoption of the EU Supply Chain Directive (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive – CSDDD). Supply chain laws have faced criticism and objections from the outset. In the past year, however, discussions in Ger many and across Europe have intensified to such an extent that the debate is now dominated by numerous falsehoods and fallacies, with measures to protect people and the environment repeatedly being equated to bureaucracy. Against this backdrop, this publication summarises key arguments in favour of supply chain legislation. Our aim is to dispel any myths and explain why an effective EU supply chain law is needed more urgently than ever before..."

"The energy transition should be fair: Those who consume more energy and have access to alter natives should shoulder a greater share of the costs. Those with fewer resources should receive targeted support. This seems logical – but who exactly are the “vulnerable” in the energy system? In the EU project gEneSys, we asked over 18,000 people from Germany, France, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Italy: Can you afford the energy you need for your household? The answers show: Energy poverty is not a marginal phenomenon. It affects certain groups systematically – and it differs from country to country..."

"Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine has a significant negative impact on the
lives of millions of Ukrainians: due to the hostilities and their consequences, mil lions have lost their homes, jobs, health, and were forced to leave their usual
place of residence. Thousands of men and women have taken up arms to defend
their country. The war is also a major challenge for the Ukrainian economy: according to estimates by the Kyiv School of Economics, as of September 2024,
the amount of damage from military activities in the field of infrastructure and
industry and the losses of enterprises had reached $36.6 billion and $11.4 billion,
respectively.1
At the same time, the total indirect financial losses of enterprises
are estimated at almost $410 billion (revenue) or $133 billion (value added).2
Due to the significant scale of infrastructure damage, the destruction of production capacities, the disruption of production and trade chains, and the decline in
production volumes, the recovery of the Ukrainian economy after the end of the
war will require a substantial amount of time and material resources. In addition, postwar recovery and the further development of Ukraine's economy will
require, above all, people — professionals in their field, on whom the economy
of any country relies.
Discussions about postwar reconstruction have been ongoing almost since the
beginning of the full-scale invasion — both at numerous international platforms
and within Ukraine, and possible visions of reconstruction are presented in dozens of recovery plans. At the same time, members of trade unions, which represent thousands of workers, are not frequent guests at conferences in London,
Berlin, or other European capitals where the postwar recovery strategy is being
discussed.
That is why, over the course of 2024, we spoke with representatives of Ukrainian
trade unions that are part of the international IndustriALL network, which unites
50 million workers in the energy, manufacturing, and mining sectors, about how
the war has affected their industry as a whole and the activities of the union itself, as well as what is of primary importance for the postwar recovery of this
sector, particularly in regard to the human resources potential lost during the
years of war. In this text, we have summarized the key opinions and ideas we
were able to hear from the trade unionists..."

"Today, the concept of a just transition is used to shape a policy framework that advances the goals of climate action and ecological transformations, focusing on the perspectives of workers, frontline communities, and the most marginalized. The framework has been adopted by a diverse range of stakeholders, including developed countries, to foster climate and energy partnerships aimed at providing finance, technology, and various forms of assistance to support the transition in countries of the Global South. While these partnerships have made some progress in centring ›justice‹ in climate and energy policy, they have largely fallen short when it comes to delivering tangible results for marginalized populations and taking effective steps to make progress on restorative justice, with a view to repairing the harm done to individuals, communities, the environment, and future generations. Shortcomings in delivering justice are particularly prevalent in climate and energy partnerships, which are often characterised by a lack of gender awareness. Despite efforts to incorporate gender objectives, partnership agreements generally overlook the gender dimensions and the power imbalances in relations between people of various genders in the context of the transition to low-carbon societies. As a result, such agreements often tend to reinforce existing patriarchal practices. This brief provides an overview of gender-related approaches to a just transition and argues that the most promising analytical tool to advance gender equality entails adopting an approach centred on gender-transformative policy and programming with an intersectional lens. On this basis, the brief reviews various models of climate and energy partnerships to address how they have integrated the just transition framework and gender concerns. Considering the limitations of climate and energy partnerships in these respects, the brief provides four case studies of grassroots and community-led experiences in gender-just transitions to distil key lessons learned that can be integrated into international cooperation schemes. The brief subsequently provides key guidelines for structural transformation and criteria on gender to adopt a gender-transformative approach based on, and going beyond, the International Labour Organization's Guidelines for a Just Transition Towards Environmentally Sustainable Societies and Economies; it also proposes complementary policy tools to tackle the root causes of gender inequality. Finally, key policy recommendations are tailored specifically to host and partner countries, civil society, trade unions, and businesses to assist a range of stakeholders in ensuring that gender-transformative approaches are integrated from their specific perspectives"

"Ireland's trade unions are largely gathered under a single confederation – The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), comprising 43 unions representing over 700 000 workers island-wide. SIPTU, a general union, accounts for nearly one-third of this membership. Union density peaked at 62 percent in the 1980s but is now around 26 percent, with collective-bargaining coverage at 35 percent. Public administration, education, health, energy and water workers tend to be the most unionised, while hospitality, IT and low-skill manufacturing remain least organised..."