Since the establishment of the Von der Leyen Commission, the green transition has been at the heart of the EU agenda. The green transformation is a process that the European Union needs to accelerate in order to achieve long-term economic growth and “climate neutrality”. This ambitious objective requires a significant commitment from the European Union but also from the national public and private sectors.

In the short and medium period, disruptive implications will affect enterprises, public administrations and workforces across Europe. To undertake the ecological transition does not simply mean “greening” the current system. It means adopting a new economic and social model, and this will have a considerable impact on the future of work and the workforce.

On September 26, CESI launched its first meeting as part of the EcoTra project. The project aims to ensure that the green transition is socially fair. A just transition should not only apply to private-sector workers but also to public-sector staff.

The president of CESI Europe Academy, Marcello Pacifico, welcomed the participants and the importance of enabling a socially fair green transition. The CESI secretary general Klaus Heeger said: “With the support of the EU commission, we will train our members and workers in order to embrace this green transition”.

Tilemachos Dafnis from the CESI General Secretariat presented the new EU-cofunded project of CESI’s Europe Academy entitled ‘ECOTRA – Ecological change in public services, which targets worker-friendly ‘greening’ of public services, including healthcare. He noted that knowledge about the European Green Deal will facilitate the identification with and the ownership of the European Green Deal’s objectives within CESI’s trade union network.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the mantra of the Commission has been ‘None should be left behind. Tomasz Koguc and Marcella Migliori from the CESI secretariat highlighted that CESI recognises a crucial need for the active involvement of workers and trade unions in the delivery of the European Green Deal.