Climate change exposes workers to rising heat – new report

Emerging economies face as much as 10 percent losses in working hours because of deteriorating thermal conditions in the workplace due to climate change, according to a new report released today.

The estimated losses imply adverse consequences of a similar scale to economic output, or GDP, for a wide range of developing countries, including India, Indonesia and Nigeria, as highlighted by the report.

Strengthening current plans for greenhouse gas emission cuts under the Paris Agreement on climate change would, according to the study, significantly reduce the economic and public health impact of escalating workplace heat.

"We embarked on this report to give recognition to this specific and serious concern, and to begin the conversation on how to respond and deal with it. The challenges have to be addressed by governments, employers, employees and other relevant international organizations if we want to be able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030," said Maria Luisa Silva, UNDP Geneva Director.

The findings were presented at International Labour Organization (ILO) headquarters in Geneva, together with the 43-member Climate Vulnerable Forum, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), ILO, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Organization of Employers (IOE), UNI Global Union, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), ACT Alliance, and with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The release marked International Workers' Memorial Day, with the report calling excessive workplace heat a well-known occupational health and productivity danger behind growing risks of heat exhaustion, heat stroke and, "in extreme cases", death.

The joint study, "Climate Change and Labour: Impacts of Heat in the Workplace" is based on updated research into labour-related effects for different economies exposed to increasingly extreme thermal conditions because of climate change.

More than one billion employees and their employers and communities in vulnerable countries already grapple with such severe heat in the workplace, the report finds, and the impact of climate change on labour is not being adequately accounted for by international and national climate or employment policies.

For one country, the report found that reductions to total available working hours due to climate change had already reached an estimated 4 per cent by the 1990s, highlighting the current nature of the challenge.

Highly exposed zones include the Southern United States, Central America and the Caribbean, Northern South America, North and West Africa, South and South East Asia, according to the report. Especially vulnerable are Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and emerging economies with high concentrations of outdoor labour and industrial and service sector workers operating in ineffectively climate-controlled conditions.

Even with the stronger 1.5-degree Celsius limit settled on under the Paris Agreement, key regions would face almost an entire month of extreme heat each year by 2030 (2010-2030), the report finds. 

Such heat reduces work productivity, increases the need for work breaks and elevates risks to health and occupational injuries-effects that also entail lower productive output on a "macro-scale" according to the study.

Speaking at the report's launch, Cecelia Rebong, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the UN, said the impact of heat in the workplace adds "another layer of vulnerability to developing countries already reeling from the adverse impacts of climate change." The need to limit global warming was "urgent and critical", she added.

According to the report, "when it is too hot, people work less effectively out-of-doors, in factories, the office or on the move due to diminished ability for physical exertion and for completing mental tasks."

"Governments and international organizations have long put in place standards on thermal conditions in the workplace. But climate change has already altered thermal conditions," and "additional warming is a serious challenge for any worker or employer reliant on outdoor or non-air conditioned work." Levels of heat are already "very high" even for acclimatized populations, it noted.

Technical development of the joint report was based on research of the High Occupational Temperature Health and Productivity Suppression (Hothaps) program of the Ruby Coast Research Centre, Mapua, New Zealand, led by Tord Kjellstrom.

"The findings of the report highlight the importance of occupational safety and health policies as important dimensions in the responses to climate change," said Moustapha Kamal Gueye, ILO Green Jobs Programme.

Record support for advancing Paris Climate Agreement entry into force

In an extraordinary show of support for the Paris climate agreement adopted last December, 175 countries signed the Paris Agreement at a ceremony at UN Headquarters that far exceeded the historical record for first-day signatures to an international agreement.

The ceremony, held the first day the Paris Agreement was open for signature, marked the initial step toward ensuring the agreement enters into force.  The agreement can enter into force 30 days after 55 countries accounting for 55 per cent of global emissions deposit their instruments of ratification.

“The world will have met the requirement needed for the Paris Agreement to enter into force,” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, “if all 175 countries that have signed today take the next step at the national level and join the Agreement.”

Fifteen countries submitted their ratifications during the signing ceremony, including small island developing countries that are on the frontlines of climate impacts.

Several countries announced plans to join the agreement in 2016, including Australia, Argentina, Cameroon, Canada, China, France, Mali, Mexico, Philippines, and the United States.  Other countries, including Brazil, the European Union, and the Russian Federation, pledged to swiftly work to complete the necessary steps for joining the agreement.

“I am very pleased to see so much support and political momentum to move the Agreement forward,” said the Secretary-General. “The spirit of multilateralism is strong.”

He added that the participation by so many countries today, and the attendance by 55 world leaders, along with leaders from civil society and the private sector, leaves no doubt that the world is determined to take climate action.

French President François Hollande, who hosted the Paris climate conference, said his country would take the lead to set a price on carbon.

There was strong business engagement at the Signature Ceremony, and United Nations Global Compact Executive Director Lise Kingo called on companies around the world to set an internal carbon price at a minimum of $100 per metric ton over time.

“The Paris Agreement sends a clear signal that business and investors must put climate at the heart of decision-making,” said Ms. Kingo. “We believe that setting a $100 internal price on carbon is one of the most effective ways to drive climate deep into corporate strategy and investment. While leading companies have taken steps to price carbon, we need to see an ascent in ambition and price across the board.”

Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said: “Today is a remarkable, record-breaking day in the history of international cooperation on climate change and a sustainable future for billions of people alive today and those to come.”

Figueres added, “The urgency now is to implement the Paris Agreement’s visionary pathways at a speed and scale that can deliver the next crucial steps; namely a swift peaking of global emissions, a climate neutral world in the second half of the century and the building of resilient countries and communities for every man, woman and child.”

The Paris Agreement marked a watershed moment in taking action on climate change.  After years of negotiation, countries agreed to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, while pursuing efforts to keep temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.

Even as the agreement was adopted, countries recognized that present pledges to reduce emissions were still insufficient to reach these goals.  The Paris Agreement mandates regular meetings every five years, starting in 2018, to review progress, and to consider whether it is necessary to increase ambition.

Walking the talk of an ambitious Paris Climate Agreement

All of the world’s largest economies, and the largest greenhouse gas emitters, have indicated that they will sign the historic climate change agreement in New York on Friday. 

More than 165 countries have indicated that they will participate in the signature ceremony being convened by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is rallying the UN to “walk the talk” when it comes to climate change action.

The signing is the first step toward ensuring that the agreement enters into force as soon as possible.  After signing, countries must take the further national step of accepting or ratifying the agreement.

The agreement can enter into force 30 days after at least 55 Parties to the UNFCCC, accounting for at least 55 per cent of global emissions, ratify the agreement.

There are 13 countries, mostly Small Island Developing States, that are expected to deposit their instruments of ratification immediately after signing the agreement on Friday.

Already, country delegations heading to New York for signing of the Paris Climate Change Agreement will be traveling climate neutral.

The travel emissions will be tallied and an equivalent volume of Certified Emission Reduction (CERs) credits will be cancelled.

The CERs will be sourced from the Adaptation Fund, set up to fund projects that help developing countries cope with the inevitable effects of climate change. So, in addition to compensating for the delegates’ travel, purchase and cancellation of the credits will help fund projects on the ground.

“Reaching climate neutrality by mid-century will require a serious and significant effort to de-carbonize the global economy, based on a systemic shift to ever cleaner energy, rising levels of energy efficiency and far more sustainable management of all forms of natural resources,” said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). “Everyone can help speed up and scale up this shift by offsetting the emissions they are at present unable to reduce.”  

CERs, each equivalent to one tonne carbon dioxide, are awarded to emission reduction projects registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – everything from clean cookstove projects, to wind energy, to tree planting.
 

Meanwhile, the Islamic Climate Change Declaration has also been presented to the President of the UN General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoff.

The Declaration calls for all nations with the greatest responsibility and capacity to lead the way in tackling climate change to phase-out the use of fossil fuels and shifting to 100% renewable sources of energy.

“Islam teaches us that ‘man is simply a steward holding whatever is on earth in trust’,” says Nana Firman, Co-Chair of the Global Muslim Climate Network. “The Declaration calls upon all nations and their leaders to drastically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and support vulnerable communities, both in addressing the impacts of climate change and in harnessing renewable energy.”

The occasion also marked the official launch of the Global Muslim Climate Network as support for climate action within the world’s second largest faith group continues to grow.

Leaders of the Climate Vulnerable Forum have also urged a ministerial gathering of the "High Ambition Coalition" in New York to take the concrete steps needed to accelerate global climate action.

Speaking at the gathering, Secretary Emmanuel M. De Guzman of the Climate Change Commission of the Philippines said: "Ambition must translate into concrete steps to meet the 1.5 degree objective, which means all countries must resubmit far more ambitious contributions under the Paris Agreement by 2020, at the latest. Swifter progress to reach the $100 billion mark while respecting additionality with ODA commitments is equally urgent for enabling ambition globally."

The High Ambition Coalition emerged at the UN Climate Change Conference at Paris (UNFCCC COP21) as an alliance of developing and developed countries that together demanded strong outcomes at COP21, including inclusion of the ambitious 1.5 degree Celsius limit in the Paris Agreement.

Why signing the Paris Climate Agreement marks critical next step to Sustainable Future

The record number of countries set to sign the Paris Agreement in New York on April 22 signals the next step towards the Agreement coming into force and a critical juncture in a global effort to ensure lasting hopes for secure and peaceful, human development.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon’s dictum that our generation is the first that can end poverty but the last that can act to avoid the worst climate change speaks to the fact that cutting greenhouse gas emissions in time to prevent unmanageable rises in temperature is the one assurance of keeping those hopes on track.

“More carbon in the atmosphere equals more poverty. We cannot deliver sustainable development without tackling climate change, and we cannot tackle climate change without addressing the root causes of poverty, inequality and unsustainable development patterns,” said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The realisation that climate change and development are solvable only when seen as inseparable is articulated in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, agreed by nations last September at the UN in New York.

Achievement of the Paris Agreement’s climate goals calls for unprecedented rates of decarbonisation. The short 15 years to 2030 will need to deliver unprecedented outcomes in terms of global well-being and poverty eradication.

Nothing less will do than a massive global transformation to clean energy, restored lands and societies pre-proofed against existing climate change.

“Key actors across government, the private sector and civil society are shaping their vision on how they can best contribute to that objective. We have a short window of opportunity to align strategies and to sharpen the focus on the urgency of implementation. Strategic approaches developed this year will shape the overall path for years to come,” said Ms Figueres.

The SDGs not only contain a distinct climate change goal (#13), but climate action is also integral to the successful implementation of most of the other SDGs under the agenda.

This works in three fundamental ways that underpin the relation between the nature of the climate change threat and aspirations for a better, safer, fairer future.

Climate and development are locked together through basic cause and effect, by the need for an unprecedented transformation to a low-carbon economy and through the demanding timetable of action necessary to stay well below a 2 degrees Celsius temperature rise, with 1.5 degrees identified in the Paris Agreement as an even safer line of defence.

These three factors affect every goal.

Climate Impacts Eat Away at Every Positive Human Goal

It will clearly be impossible to end poverty in all its forms (Goal #1), if temperatures are allowed to spiral out of control—emissions need to peak globally in the next decade followed by a rapid decline, ending in a state before 2100 where natural sinks like forests absorb the balance of human emissions.

The same is true for sustainable agriculture, water, oceans, biodiversity, human health and well-being, resilient societies and cities (Goals #1,2,3, 6, 9,11 and 15).

New investment especially must be directed at priorities which target both climate and sustainability with indicators underpinning all the SDGs in mind including climate.

A classic example is investments in land restoration and forests. Forest cover not only absorbs carbon dioxide but stabilizes soils, recycles nutrients, manages and feeds river flows and harbours treasure troves of biodiversity including pollinators - services which are all essential to alleviate poverty, sustain healthy agriculture and protect species.

The poorest and most marginalised people and communities, often women and children, are already being hit hardest by climate impacts, which are preventing them from attaining a decent quality of life or enjoying their basic human rights.

Climatic changes are undermining food and nutrition security, keeping poor people in poverty traps, and throwing back entire economies for years.

Impacts on agriculture have a rapid knock-on effect on poverty. Under a scenario with lower crop yields, countries like Bangladesh could experience a 15 percent increase in poverty by 2030.

Water resources are also at risk, as many expected climate impacts are water-related, such as floods and droughts. Sanitation and water quality are both threatened as storm run-off adds to sewage and could contaminate water supplies.

The global insurance industry has already warned that a world drifting into the temperature spaces above 2 degrees would become, quite literally, uninsurable.

Sustainability Demands Rapid Progress to Low-Carbon State

At the heart of the goals which promote sustainable development in energy, economic and jobs growth, industry and infrastructure (Goals 7,8 and 9) is the overwhelming requirement that it is done within a rapid transformation towards low-carbon solutions.

This transformation relies heavily on getting low-carbon technology and investment deployed now because whatever we invest in today - be it power plant, road, bridge, or tiny widget or component – can lock-in the emissions of that investment for its lifetime.

The point where human economic life becomes uninsurable is also the point at which extreme climate impacts start to disrupt or destroy industries, structures, supply chains and farming.

A significant resource for both governments and business to gauge how returns on climate and development investments can be maximised together lies in the almost universal set of national climate action plans which are now to be captured in legal form under the Paris Agreement.

The plans are, in essence, blueprints of policy, actions and investment to take climate action, suited to the individual economic needs of each country. Almost by definition, they are also a roadmap towards more sustainable national futures.

Inequality, Ignorance and Injustice Kill Effective Climate Action

The remaining goals which look to achieve equality, education and justice for all will also fail unless that aspiration includes equal opportunity to take climate action, knowledge and skills on how to do so and a just protection from the impacts of climate change within and between nations.

For example, ensuring women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life has been shown to be a particularly effective catalyst of climate action, including in poorest, most vulnerable countries.

Climate change impacts inequality because the most disadvantaged groups are particularly affected by climate hazards. It is a known statistic that when they are socially or economically disadvantaged, more women die in hurricanes and floods.

“There is no longer climate action and development action, only sustainable, low-carbon action,” said Christiana Figueres. “Growth can and must be decoupled from fossil fuel consumption and impacts.”

“The only plausible path after Paris is to direct human ingenuity, innovation and implementation towards sustainable, low-carbon growth and development.”

Leaders share thoughts on new vision for financing development

Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, joined top development and finance leaders in a conversation on a new vision for financing development at the Spring Meetings in Washington D.C.

Panelists included Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group; Justine Greening, UK Secretary of State for International Development; Ghana’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Seth Terkper; and Raghuram Rajan, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

Mr. Terkper’s contribution focused on domestic revenue mobilization and leveraging international financing for emerging economies to drive entrepreneurship and job creation.

He particularly wants the World Bank’s financial inclusion agenda to take into consideration the capacity of the mobile telephony and microfinance businesses to grow the small and medium enterprises.

“We are moving to a point where mobile money is not merely a transfer but because money is held in the pocket books – they are moving towards a savings approach – and therefore the central bank is stepping in, working with the mobile companies and the microfinance companies which are entrepreneurial entities and are spread all over,” Mr. Terkper stated. “What we need from the support perspective from institutions like the World Bank is to build a platform for supervision so that you do not experience charlatans coming into the field”.

 

The conversation focused on reshaping the development landscape and a vision for delivering a world free of extreme poverty where there is opportunity for all.

For Jim Yong Kim, the game changer is to double the IDA financing to 100billion dollars. The International Development Association (IDA) is a financial institution offering concessional loans and grants to the world’s poorest developing countries.

The World Bank President, however, expects governments in low-income economies to drift towards borrowing to invest in health and education, instead of their fixation to infrastructure development.

“We hear often from countries that they don’t want to take World Bank loans and invest in soft things like health and education; they want to invest in hard things like roads and bridges…but one thing you can count on is human capital and it’s still very difficult to make a case despite all the studies that are now available that show that health and education are critical to, at least, medium and to certainly long term economic growth,” said Mr. Yong Kim.

The concern for the global financial institutions is how to continue to build on the progress made whilst ensuring the gains are not eroded away by the current challenges.

The UK’s Justine Greening observed that the broader global economic challenges are going to make life for emerging economies in particular more challenging.

She is however emphatic on the need to tackle corruption, which she believes deprives poor people of the benefit to development support.

One means to tackle corruption, according to Governor Raghuram Rajan, is to  improve access to opportunities, especially access to finance.

World leaders, last year, adopted a bold set of global goals to end extreme poverty and create a more sustainable, prosperous world – under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

However, the world’s development structures and their financial supports are under increasing pressure and facing strong headwinds in the shape of a challenging global economy, rising inequality, conflict and fragility as well as natural disasters and pandemics.

Bill Gates says there are great examples in poor countries indicating that by adopting the right methodologies and using expertise conditionality can help drive best practices faster.

“If we have the best tax systems, the best primary healthcare systems, the best educational system of countries at every level of income, adopted by others, then this development game will proceed very quickly” he stated.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh/Washington DC

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