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Sustainable Development
For any company, successful integration of the work environment, health
and safety into the development process puts the focus on employees, in
their dual capacity of users and producers. With this in mind, the effort
to improve working conditions can be combined with increased environmental
consciousness and ultimately lead to broader participation, greater
commitment and a sense of responsibility for all the individuals concerned.
New production and consumption patterns can be developed - this is a major
condition for halting the global destruction of the environment that is
already affecting the lives of our own and future generations.
The World Summit at Rio de Janeiro
From 3 to 14 June 1992 the UN held its major conference on the environment and
development - sustainable development - in Rio de Janeiro. An action programme
for the forthcoming century, Agenda 21, was adopted by the conference, that had
gathered together heads of state, representatives of environmental organisation
and trade unions from all over the world.
The Rio declaration contained in particular
Chapter 29 that marked the important
role that the trade union movement and employees could play in the Agenda 21 work
towards sustainable development.
The UN follows up on the Rio Conference
From 23 to 27 June 1997 the UN General Assembly held a special session on
the environment and development (UNGASS) in New York to evaluate how the
Rio Conference decisions had been pursued around the world. For this session
Sweden had assembled a report to the UN on the Swedish Agenda 21 work,
"Five years after Rio - results and the future".
In his speech to the General Assembly Bill
Jordan, General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade
Unions (ICFTU) - particularly emphasised the contribution made by the TCO since Rio:
"One of our affiliates, the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (TCO),
has provided a concrete model in its "TCO 6E" for integrating environmental policies
as the basis for workplace eco-auditing. Large employers are already working with
TCO. Here is the sort of action a world, weary of words, needs..."
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