It is now unequivocal that anthropogenic climate change is causing unprecedented pressures on Earth's ecosystems- air, land and water. Increasingly, there are intense weather events such as droughts, fires, floods, storms and cyclones, all of which are regularly destabilising people, communities, and inevitably, the world of work on which most still depend for their everyday livelihoods. Climate events have serious if not catastrophic impacts on people's ability to feed and house themselves and crucially on the sustainability of their livelihoods. These impacts increase vulnerability to irregular migration, labour exploitation, debt bondage, modern slavery, and human trafficking. In essence, unfree work which psychologically, physically and financially shackles millions of workers to indecent, obscene work. This unfree work which is informal and illegal often occurs in protected areas, such as forests and oceans that are crucial for climate mitigation.
As such, the world of work may be the single biggest contributor to climate change through the destabilizing of the oceans and forests, which comprise the planet's life support system, coupled with the ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions, waste production, energy and freshwater consumption, resource extraction, and agricultural practices in the informal and formal economies. Staggeringly, it is reported that since 2016, it is 57 formal companies, which produce oil, gas, coal and cement, that are responsible for 80% of the world's carbon emissions (Watts, 2024). Humanity is locked into vicious cycles of escalating and destructive production and consumption. The world of work can no longer be separated from climate action. Indecent work is fueled by climate destruction, just as climate destruction is fueled by the world of work. Indecent work is therefore anathema to climate action, and decent work is necessary for both climate action and sustainable livelihoods. Sustainability must always be understood as equitable interconnections of people, planet and prosperity.