Work

According to a report presented at the International Labour Conference held in June 2013 by the International Labour Organization, more than 200 million people in the world (6% of the potential workforce) are unemployed.

If global prosperity and equality is the primary objective which guides all proposals for the definition of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is clear that this statistic represents a significant obstacle to the achievement of this goal.

This is one of the reasons why some of the proposals for the Post-2015 Agenda, as well as the interpretation given by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, make it clear that the term “work” means decent work. This is different to the Millennium Development Goals, which consider this aspect to be implicit. The potential contribution of the private sector in this area is very important. The nature of the employment offered by the oil and gas industry makes it a driving force for development in many contexts. It involves highly specialized work, which requires a high level of training and is highly marketable at the international level.

The same characteristics relate to the professional skills for the induced economic activity created locally, which is also characterized by a high level of stability due to the duration of the investments.