The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) has fully affirmed and committed itself to the Green Call to Action.

"We pledge to take our own proactive steps in spreading awareness among our constituents on the impact to business of climate change and other environmental issues," Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) President Edgardo G. Lacson emphasized.

Employers have further committed to strengthen advocacy efforts towards clean production processes at work via the Greener Business Asia Project to help create a vigorous economy that supports job creation, develop new skills, and enhance competencies required in this transition so we can secure our environment for future generations.

ECOP's commitments were made during the 1st Green Jobs Conference held from August 15-16 at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City on the theme, "Promoting Green Jobs and Decent Work Towards Inclusive Growth." Organized by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), through the Institute for Labor Studies (ILS), the Conference seeks to develop and enhance information links among various stakeholders that could lead to the identification of new jobs, skills, and competencies that should be acquired to ensure a just transition toward employment-friendly resources.

The Conference was supported by the ECOP, Federation of Free Workers (FFW), and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) as "green partners."

The Conference was also supported by the International Labor Organization (ILO), with the Climate Change Commission (CCC), National Youth Commission (NYC), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), as co-convenors.

The role of business in creating job opportunities cannot be overemphasized. Extreme weather events, resource depletion, drought, flood, however, represent huge business cost. Adaptation has therefore become necessary for industries. They must shift to new patterns of investments, production and consumption and adopt measures for innovation, productivity improvement and resource efficiency. These new business requirements will create new demand for labor and skills. For the demand side (employers), policy measures must enable business growth. For the supply side (workers), employment programs, human resource development, retraining and social protection will be crucial for promoting workers' mobility and smooth transition, especially among vulnerable workers.

Strong evidence point to an acceleration of climate change globally. Over the lifetime of the earth, climate has constantly changed. In recent history, however, climate change has become more rapid, causing unprecedented levels of global warming.