The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) joins the global labour movement under the banner of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and TUNGO, the Trade Union NGO formally recognised within the UNFCCC, to represent workers’ voices in the global climate negotiations. This platform ensures that trade unions can engage directly in UN climate processes, defend decent work, and push for climate policies that are fair, inclusive, and worker-centred.

As workers around the world look toward Belém, millions carry a sense of hope mixed with urgency; hope that leaders will finally deliver the action they have promised; urgency because the climate crisis is already reshaping our jobs, our health, our communities, and our economies.

COSATU enters COP30 with one clear message; There can be no climate justice without social justice, and no Just Transition without workers at the centre.

A Just Transition With Workers at the Centre

• Protect existing jobs
• Create new, decent jobs
• Guarantee income support, retraining, and reskilling
• Strengthen public services, local economies, and community resilience

The experience at Komati in South Africa serves as a warning. A transition without planning, funding, and worker participation only deepens poverty and inequality. Such an approach must never be repeated anywhere.

Climate Finance Must Be Fair and Accessible

The Global South cannot transition if climate finance comes in the form of loans that drive countries deeper into debt. COSATU calls for:

• Public climate finance based on grants, not loans
• Large scale funding for adaptation, resilience, and public services
• Direct access for workers, municipalities, and frontline communities
• A fully operational Loss and Damage Fund that delivers real relief
• Finance must work for people, not profit.

Public Ownership and Energy Democracy

• Energy is a public good. The Just Transition must:
• Strengthen Eskom and the public grid
• Expand public renewable energy and public transport
• Ensure communities and workers shape energy decisions
• Block profiteering and prevent the privatisation of essential infrastructure
• A fair transition must be built on public leadership and democratic oversight.

Skills, Training, and Job Guarantees

Workers must not be left without opportunities. COSATU calls for:

• Expanded TVET colleges and apprenticeships
• Reskilling and upskilling before any workplace restructuring
• Job guarantees connected to the green and digital transition
• Clear sector by sector planning for energy, industry, transport, and agriculture
• A transition that destroys jobs is not a Just Transition.

Gender Equality and Youth Inclusion

• Climate change impacts women and young workers hardest. COSATU demands:
• Equal access to new green jobs
• Social protection, childcare, and healthcare investments
• Leadership opportunities for women and youth
• Implementation of COSATU’s Just Transition Gender Toolkit
• Education, training, and entrepreneurship opportunities for young workers
• A Just Transition must correct inequality, not reproduce it.

Adaptation and Community Protection

South Africa and many Global South countries face floods, droughts, heatwaves, and collapsing infrastructure. Adaptation must be a priority. This includes:

• Climate resilient public infrastructure
• Safety protections for frontline and outdoor workers
• Early warning systems and disaster preparedness
• Community based resilience programmes
• Adaptation is not optional. It saves lives.

Africa and the Global South Must Be Heard

The Global South did not create the climate crisis, yet we face its most severe consequences. COSATU supports a unified African and Global South voice calling for:

• Equity and fairness in all climate negotiations
• Technology transfer and new industrial opportunities
• Local beneficiation of critical minerals
• Trade rules that support decent work and development
• Respect for the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR)
• Climate justice is inseparable from economic justice and social justice.

Our Demands for COP30

COSATU, together with ITUC and TUNGO, calls for world leaders in Belém to deliver:

• Full implementation of the Just Transition Work Programme
• A fully operational, worker accessible Loss and Damage Fund
• A New Climate Finance Goal based on public grants
• Public led energy and transport transitions
• Decent work, job guarantees, and strong social protection
• Gender equality and youth inclusion across all climate plans
• Adaptation and resilience funding that prioritises the most vulnerable
• Workers must be partners, not bystanders, in shaping the transition.

From South Africa to Brazil, and from workers to the world, our message is clear, a Just Transition must be for the people and led by the people. No worker. No community. No country must be left behind. COSATU stands united with ITUC, TUNGO, and the global labour movement in demanding a future that is fair, inclusive, and sustainable. The time for real action is now.

Issued by COSATU

Boitumelo Molete (COSATU Social Development Policy Coordinator; PCC Commissioner)

Mobile: 072 306 1994

Email: boitumelo@cosatu.org.za

Zanele Sabela (National Spokesperson)

Mobile:  079 287 5788 / 077 600 6639

Email: zaneles@cosatu.org.za