Committee : International Labor Organization (ILO)

Country : Greece
Proponents : Ezri M. Coda Jr. and Mikaella Marie P. Rubin
Topic : The Challenge of Global Green Economy Plan on Creating Equal Job
Opportunity in Developed and Developing Countries

Global Green Economy Plan is an initiative of the ILO that has been created in response to
the dilemma of climate change’s adverse effects globally. It seeks to address the economic causes
of the latter in the national level of every ILO’s Member States (MS). Previous measures have
been considered by ILO to help its MS whether it is a Developed Country (DC) or a Least
Developed Country/Developing Country (LDC) such as establishing of Green Jobs programs,
the “Guidelines for a Just Transition towards Environmentally Sustainable Economies and
Societies for All”; conventions such as 1952 Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, the
1962 Social Policy (Basic Aims and Standards) Convention, the 1975 Human Resources
Development Convention, the 1977 Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration)
Convention, and many more (AWMUN II: ILO Study Guide, 2018).
A possible hindrance in the effective implementation of the former actions took by ILO is
that the uneven growth and progress of the labor markets between the DCs and the LDCs. Greece
believes that it is imperative to implore a bottom-up planning instead of crafting an over-all
economic plan that is expected to suit to all MS disregarding its differences.
Greece, as a parliamentary republic and an MS of the International Labor Organization since
1919 has always been supportive of the advocacy of ILO in transitioning into a green economy.
“Economy should not be an enemy of ecology and environment”, a proposition of the Alternate
Minister for Environment and Energy of Greece, Mr. Socrates Famellos during the Third Session
of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) is a clear implication that Greece is
exerting efforts towards an effective transition into a greener economy. Some clear manifestations
of these as stipulated on their Green Growth Principles under the Ministry of Environment and
Energy in partnership with the The Ministry of Labour, Social Insurance and Social Solidarity:
(1) Combating climate change by moving to a competitive economy with low carbon consumption,
(2) Sustainable management and protection of natural resources, (3) Enhancement of the quality
of life, with respect for the environment, and (4) Strengthening of environmental governance
mechanisms and institutions, (European Environment Agency (EEA)).
Recognizing the uneven growth and progress of the labor markets between the DCs and the
LDCs, a generalized plan for all of its MS which has been previously initiated might not be
sustainable and applicable to another MS.
Thus, Greece proposes an original economic model named as the Quadripartite Economic
Model of the Global Green Economy Plan (QEM-GGEP) as a solution which is a form of bottom-
up planning that presents four fundamental factors namely; (1)Carbon Dioxide Emission through
fuel Combustion, (2)Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Value, (3)Workforce Distribution and
(4)Technological Advancements which are essential in categorizing the MS purposive in crafting a
feasible plan on the national level of each or those countries with the same status. This model is
partly parallel to the four dimensions namely: (1) leadership and climate change, (2) efficiency
sectors, (3) markets and investments and the (4) environment as distinguished by the Dual Citizen
LLC in the Global Green Economy Index (GGEI) 2018, (Magnusson, McNally, Milla and Tamanini,
2018).
Factors
1. CO2 Emission through Fuel Combustion Modified Global Green Economy Plan
Categorization
2. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Value of Member (Creation of subjective-national level
States green economy plans based on their
3. Workforce Distribution status on the four factors)
4. Technological Advancements

Figure 1. Quadripartite Economic Model of the Global Green Economy Plan (QEM-GGEP)
Greece proposes the 3 following possible solutions below:
1. Establishing of a research team under the supervision of the Committee of Experts of ILO
in cooperation with NDC Partnership, UNEP, IOE, ITUC, PAGE, UNIDO, UNITAR and
DCED to scrutinize each MS through the four factors indicated in the QEM-GGEP. The facts
which will be gathered from their research will then be used to categorize the MS from the
LDCs up to DCs. Categorization of the MS through the lens of the four factors is essential
in crafting a modified Global Green Economy plan due to the following reasons:
A. Carbon Dioxide Emission through Fuel Combustion. Having a high or a low amount
of CO2 emission in the present has two implications. If a country emits more than its
average amount annually, it means that the country is on its process of industrialization.
But if it is otherwise, it also implies two things; their CO2 emission is relatively low
because they have burned most of their natural resources and have underwent massive
industrialization a long time ago or they have not even started yet. Knowing the amount
of CO2 emitted by each MS will serve as a basis in creating quotas in CO2 emission
which might become an integral part on the amendment of the 1977 Working
Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention.
B. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Value. Recognizing the subtle differences between
the MS’s GDP value must be considered as well in classifying the MS to identify its
economic growth in terms of the goods and services it produces. In addition, “it is not
reflective of human or societal well-being or the state of ecosystems”, (Prakash, 2009 as
cited by AWMUN II: ILO Study Guide, 2018). But through this, identification of those MS
which belong to LDCs who must be prioritize in the implementation will be easy.
C. Workforce Distribution. Distribution of the workforce varies from each MS to the other.
Countries like Africa and those of the Southeast Asia tend to rely their workforce heavily
on the primary sector (AWMUN II: ILO Study Guide, 2018). On the other hand, countries
like USA and Russia have the majority of their workforce in the tertiary sector or the
service sector. It is important to consider each MS workforce distribution in the
implementation of Green Economy Plan on the national level in order to assess what
type of green jobs they need to implement.
D. Technological Advancements. Countries with new and advance technological tools
must play a vital role for the smooth transitions of identified LDCs to the green economy
plan because the creation of green decent jobs might take years to compensate for the
loss of millions of jobs and having said so, LDCs cannot withstand the drastic declination
of economic stability from the jobs lost, but with the help of the technological
advancements, an LDC can overcome these dire years of transitioning into the green
economy plan by compensating the products being lost and providing enough subsidies
for consumptions. However, the global intellectual property regimes must be amended
to facilitate innovations on those technologies while adhering to regulations of
accountability.
2. Creating or revising of conventions and recommendations reliant to the new categories of
the MS as a result of a comprehensive research based on the first proposed solution above.
These new conventions may include; (1) one that sets quotas for each category of the MS
based on the QEM-GGEP on the CO2 emission annually, (2) one that monitors the GDP
value annually starting from its implementation of the new green projects, (3) one that
ensures the equality and social justice in the distribution of new green job opportunities, and
(4) one that directs the governments’ law on the intellectual property of the firms holding the
technological advancements to be revised so as to allow innovations in their technologies
to suit the needs of other MS.
3. Empowering of the ILO’s Committee on the Application of Standards to holistically reinforced
the implementation of the new or revised conventions and recommendations through
assigning special divisions of the committee in each categories of the MS based on the
extensive and research- categorization of the latter in the lens of the four factors indicated
in the economic model presented in this paper.
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