The French union that called the French government out in saying that that the current state of emergency would serve to muzzle protests and social movements has outright rejected the Draft Paris Agreement at COP21 for being entirely inadequate for both workers and the climate, criticising the logic of the COP process itself.

Here is the CGT statement that was published after the release of the draft text.

COP 21: Governments dump labour in the final leap

Le Bourget, 9 December 2015. The latest version of the draft Paris Agreement is not satisfactory for the French Confederation of Labour (CGT). Workers’ expectations are not met.

If, indeed, the prospect of an agreement in Paris is good news in itself, it should nonetheless be assessed in the light of its contents. Basically, for the CGT, these negotiations are being held within the constraints of an economic framework unable to question its own, neoliberal, logics. However, we do know the damages it causes, through unbridled competition between countries and peoples, an obsolete economic model, the lack of social policies and the straight denial of solidarity and cooperation between regions of the world.

Together with the global union movement within the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the CGT had some expectations, with respect to the ongoing negotiations in Le Bourget:

1. Sustainable human development, explicitly supported by the agreement:
   1. Central role for decent work and the creation of quality jobs;
   2. Just transition for tomorrow’s economic model;
   3. New industrial impetus, more innovative, more sober and less polluting;
2. Respect for fundamental human rights and social rights;
3. Implementation of tangible cooperation with developing countries, through the financing of their needs, as well as the provision of technology transfer mechanisms to enable them to have direct access to low-carbon economic models;
4. Limitation of global warming to below 2 degrees.

However, the newly-released text falls far from its intended target.

The guarantee of States’ commitment to sustainable development is indeed included in the corpus of the document, but the wording is restrictive.

The reference to decent work, just transition and the creation of quality jobs is relegated to the preamble, where it has no binding force. It was previously in the operative part of the text. The French unions actually wrote to Laurent Fabius, President of the COP 21, on that very issue (Tuesday 8 December).

But, as it stands at the moment, we have a text which is little – if at all – binding, based on the lowest common denominator. This applies to virtually all the issues carried by the international trade union movement:

• Financial commitments and technology transfers are far from satisfactory. Without a pro-active contribution by rich countries – which are, after all, responsible for damage to the environment – it is workers in developing countries who will bear the brunt of global warming, having to adapt their economies to new circumstances. That is not acceptable;
• The current text has not resolved the issue of “1.5”or “2”degrees. But there is nothing in the commitments that leaves any hope for this objective to be achieved, since the draft agreement does not provide the means to get there. Yet, the current climate trajectory, namely warming beyond 3 degrees, means recurrent disasters for the most vulnerable populations in the world;
• Respect for fundamental human rights has also been taken out of the corpus of the text. For the moment, they remain, along with other general considerations, in the preamble. This is in no way sufficient to face the world’s challenges. If, indeed, respect for, and guarantee of, human rights are important, commitments to the climate are indeed the implementation of this position. To relegate those recitals to the preamble goes against this logic, and amounts to foregoing them. As far as the CGT is concerned, the guarantee of human rights cannot be a question of choice.

buy cialis online Also, it has high amount of fiber that promotes liver’s absorption of blood cholesterol. Just as diabetics levitra side effects will develop coronary artery disease or neural disorders leading to erectile dysfunction (ED) may indicate underlying heart condition. cheapest cialis midwayfire.com Symptoms of diabetes in women Besides the type 1 and 2. Well, this is not usual in every men but a man with unhealthy and unhappy lifestyle may get suffer with. cheap cialis for sale
Negotiations are continuing. Heads of States and Governments are now in control of the process. We expect tangible answers and commitments, consistent with peoples’ and workers’ aspirations.