november 19, 2024

Why a just transition can’t leave women workers behind

By Devex Partnerships // 19 November 2024

“Women workers across industries — including agriculture and manufacturing — and within the informal economy are already bearing the brunt of the climate crisis as structural inequality and exploitative conditions are made worse by climate impacts such as rapidly rising temperatures and floods.

These photos highlight the impacts of climate change on women workers, including physical, mental, sexual and economic harms recognized as workplace violence under International Labour Organization Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work. They also highlight how women workers through their unions and collectives are working tirelessly to defend their rights….”

“…The immediate felt impacts of climate change — such as increasing heat and flooding — on women workers is igniting organizing by women workers through their collectives and trade unions. Women workers are not only taking action to transform their workplaces, but also using this entry point to engage in local, national, and global policy conversations on climate mitigation and just transitions.

To advance global efforts toward climate justice, we must strengthen our existing alliances for justice — and forge new ones. This will require strengthening partnerships between workers and their allies, the climate and gender justice movements, and forging a vision for the future together with industry and government actors.”