This presentation calls attention to the world's concern for the first eight of the 17 United Nation's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), often to the detriment of the other nine, Chief among them, is SDG 13, Climate Action. Climate action is integral to the achievement of the other goals and especially to those related to work psychology as described in SDG 8 - Decent work and Economic Growth. Decent Work and Climate Action are rarely linked in research or in practice. The uncoupling Is absurd. How people work, what work produces, how much is produced, where it goes after it is consumed, impacts the ecosystem. Work affects climate. Likewise, climate change impacts how we work, what can be produced, how much gets made, and where it goes after it is consumed. Climate affects work. Climate and work are dynamically thereby interconnected, in a systems dynamic of Escalation.
One potential circuit-breaker is civic - pivoting a whole city from coal production into clean energy and high-tech occupations, as part of a just transition from carbon-dependent to carbon-free municipal economy. This pathway was chosen by the Polish city council of Katowice. Facing unemployment and pollution from over 50 mines, the city was Europe's sixth most polluted city in 2018 when its council replaced the coal mines with diverse and cleaner businesses. In order to enable a just transition, coal miners were offered free vocational courses to prepare them for work in clean energy production. Economically, Katowice has become one of Poland's top industrial, commercial and financial hubs. Crucially, the unemployment rate is only 1.5%, and wages generally are among Poland's highest. Thus, there has been Decent Work, Economic Growth, and a healthy environment.