WASHINGTON, DC (December 10, 2015) – Following the release of the final text of the Paris Agreement awaiting adoption at COP21 in Paris, the BlueGreen Alliance released the following statement from Executive Director Kim Glas:

 “This is a proud moment in world history and a strong step forward to solving the biggest challenge of our time. While not perfect—the Paris Agreement urges a just transition for impacted workers and underscores the obligation to protect human rights. The Agreement does right by us all because it sets a goal and structure that could keep our world below 1.5 degree C of warming. The Agreement also made significant progress towards helping developing nations fund efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and in ensuring both transparency and verification of everyone’s commitments. Enforcement and follow through are now key.

“While it is no doubt a victory for working people that strong reference to a just transition and decent work was included in such a landmark deal, its placement is solely in the preamble. Rest assured, we will continue to fight for just transition—along with human rights, gender equality and the other core social issues that were in the text going into COP21—to become an operational item within the structures created in the Agreement and the UNFCCC. Still, the inclusion in the preamble is without a doubt a call to action to all nations to take on climate change in accordance with the needs of their people, and we plan to hold them accountable.

“We have been honored to stand alongside the diverse representation of civil society—labor, environment, human rights, youth, justice, gender equality, indigenous peoples and others—in this journey towards a world that is fair, just and not ravaged by climate change. We are not there yet, but that world is in sight.”