VIII. British-German Trade Union Forum: 'Green Jobs in Germany and the UK' -
2-3 July 2009, Berlin and Frankfurt Oder:
In the light of the looming climate change and increasingly scarcity of resources, this year's British-German Trade Union Forum, which is traditionally organised by the TUC, DGB, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Hans-Boeckler-Stiftung and the Anglo-German Foundation, dealt with the topic 'Green Jobs'. Adequately, the Forum took place in Germany's 'solar city' - Frankfurt Oder.
In his welcome to the conference delegates, DGB's Chairman Michael Sommer (photo) stressed the importance of the issue of 'green jobs' to the European trade unions. However, the conference showed how differently the environmental industry has evolved in Germany and the UK. Prof. Martin Jaenicke (photo) from the Free University of Berlin presented figures on the current situation in Germany; more than 1.8 million people work in this area. The field of renewable energies provides work for over 300,000 people. In the UK, there are currently 880,000 people working in the environmental sector, with only 7,000 involved in renewable energies.