The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to raise awareness on the independence between jobs and nature.

According to the ILO, the agreement aims at formalizing the existing collaboration between the two organizations. These include promoting and supporting green works, creation of decent jobs through investments in reforestation, soil and water conservation, environmental rehabilitation and climate change adaptation.

Furthermore, the partnership underlines the importance of ‘Nature-based Solutions’ (NbS), which use nature to address key societal challenges. These nature-based solutions include increasing agricultural productivity and incomes through the use of more sustainable agro-forestry practices or the promotion of urban greening to reduce temperatures in cities.

According to the ILO, as many as 1.2 billion jobs rely directly on ecosystems. These many people also rely on the services they provide— be it through the provision of food and water, the regulation of the climate system or the control of disease vectors. At the same time, increasingly important activities such as ecosystem restoration have the potential to create many jobs.

The International Labour Organization’s Director-General, Guy Ryder remarked that:

“If we are serious about creating decent work for all in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, we must not forget that today’s jobs and tomorrow’s depend on preserving ecosystems and are sensitive to the loss of biodiversity. Simply put, without a healthy planet, there can be no productive economies nor decent work.”
Director-General, Guy Ryder, ILO

Also, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Director-General, Bruno Oberle indicated that:

“In this post-COVID recovery journey, we must avoid investments that are harmful to nature, which means that we must avoid ‘business as usual’. Moreover, recovery investments should support nature conservation and restoration, while also addressing economic recovery and broader societal challenges.”
Director-General, Bruno Oberle, IUCN

Critical role played between jobs and nature

Notably, the world of work has a critical role to play in shaping human-centred, nature-based solutions that can generate jobs, income, reduce poverty, and restore biodiversity and ecosystems.

According to the International Labour Organization, its Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work and the Global Call to Action for a human-centred recovery from the COVID-19 crisis highlight the environment as one of the key drivers of transformative change in the world of work.

Moreover, the ILO, the UN agency for the world of work, in partnership with International Union for Conservation of Nature, the global authority on the status of the natural world and measures to safeguard it, are ideally positioned to lead and support silo-breaking, cross-sectoral and innovative solutions for people and nature.

The strengths of both organizations set forth a path towards a just transition to a future of work that contributes to sustainable development in its economic, social and environmental dimensions.

The IUCN will be holding the “IUCN world conversation congress” from 3rd September to 11th September 2021 to drive actions on nature-based recovery.