BlueGreen Alliance Statement on Signing of Paris Climate Agreement
Below is BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director Kim Glas's statement on the signing of The Paris Climate Agreement.
WASHINGTON, DC (April 22, 2016) – On this Earth Day, world leaders from nearly 170 countries are gathering at the United Nations to sign the historic Paris Climate Change Agreement. The BlueGreen Alliance—a partnership of U.S. labor unions and environmental organizations—released the following statement from Executive Director Kim Glas:
“Today is a historic day, as nations from all over the world gather to sign the Paris Climate Change Agreement. This agreement represents the first significant global effort to address the crisis of climate change, and we believe it lays the foundation for ensuring that the idea of addressing climate change is synonymous with creating and securing quality jobs and economic opportunities worldwide.
“We support this critical agreement because it sets an ambitious goal of keeping the world below an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius; because it provides strong accountability with measures to ensure transparency and verification of countries’ commitments; and most importantly, this agreement for the first time recognizes the impact of a transition to clean energy on workers and communities, and promises a regime that ensures a just transition.
“This is a strong step forward to solve the biggest challenge of our time. We applaud the Obama Administration for providing U.S. leadership in achieving this landmark deal, and look forward to working with this administration and the next to realize the promise of this agreement.”