Workers in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly vulnerable due to the escalating climate crisis. High levels of poverty, informality, and inequality, combined with the region’s diverse geographies from mountain countries to small island states, expose them to frequent and wide range of climate-induced disasters such as floods, droughts, and rising sea levels, among others. Climate change is driving mass displacement, pushing workers from one form of precarious employment to another and exacerbating their already fragile conditions.
The region’s workers—particularly those in the informal economy—bear the heaviest burdens of this crisis. Occupational health and safety risks are compounded by climate-related hazards such as heat stress, flooding, and other environmental threats, jeopardising both their physical and mental well-being. Women workers, who form a significant part of the informal workforce, are disproportionately affected, facing limited access to decent jobs, gender-responsive public services, and social protection. They are also burdened by unpaid care work and gender-based violence.
Moreover, the lack of food security, as intensified by climate impacts, often leads to hunger, malnutrition, and even death in extreme cases. Without strong social protection systems, workers remain trapped in a cycle of climate vulnerability, with each new disaster deepening their precarity.
The progress of the SDGs in the region is already lagging, and these challenges will set it back even further. In particular, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in Asia-Pacific are insufficient to meet the ambitious targets required to limit global warming to 1.5°C and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The progress of SDG 13 in the region is regressing, making urgent efforts to reverse this trend increasingly critical.
Amidst the high vulnerability of many countries in the region to climate change impacts, Asia-Pacific remains heavily reliant on coal and fossil fuels. According to the International Energy Agency, in 2021, coal accounted for 48 percent and oil for 23 percent of the region’s total energy supply. While Asia-Pacific’s share of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from combustible fuels in 2022 is only 3.2 per cent, CO2 emissions in the region have increased by 30 percent between 2000 and 2022.
Meanwhile, many countries in the region, such as Indonesia, India, and Australia, are not only large consumers but also major exporters of coal and fossil fuels, making these resources central to their economic structures.
While a shift to a low-carbon economy is urgent, it poses significant threats to workers in fossil fuel-dependent industries, leading to job losses and uncertain futures. Many communities depend entirely on the fossil fuel sector for economic stability, and abrupt shifts can lead to widespread economic hardship.
Asia-Pacific is navigating a complex energy transition. Existing energy transition initiatives prioritise the support for the private sector, rather than on support for workers that will be affected or on addressing the energy poverty that remains widespread in the region. The focus of energy transition should not only be on reducing emissions but also on democratising energy governance.
In the face of these intersecting challenges, a Just Transition is no longer an option but an imperative. This transition must be rooted in the realities of the Asia-Pacific, tailored to protect workers across all sectors affected by both climate change and climate policies, especially the women, youth, and informal workers.
Just Transition for the region means not only protecting jobs but safeguarding livelihoods of all types of workers — both formal and informal, ensuring that labour rights, decent work, and social protection are at the front and centre. This transition must champion gender justice and youth participation, ensuring that women and youth —who disproportionately bear the impacts of climate change — are not only included but empowered to lead, with their voices and experiences influencing the policies and strategies that will drive this transformation. At the core of this effort is the need for social dialogue and tripartism — workers must be at the table, shaping the policies that directly affect their lives. Any attempt to tackle the climate crisis that excludes workers from decision-making or places the burden on their shoulders is doomed to fail.
However, we cannot talk about a Just Transition without confronting the broader assault on democracy and workers' rights in the region. Civic space is shrinking, and democratic backsliding is a growing reality, with trade unionists being persecuted, harassed, and even killed for defending workers’ rights. Without freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, workers cannot meaningfully engage in shaping the transition. The repressive tactics by governments and corporations, driven by profit and neoliberal agendas, undermine any possibility of a Just Transition.
Achieving a Just Transition requires political will. It demands transparency, good governance, and policies that align climate, labour, social, and economic goals, centred on the principles of justice. Governments must be accountable to the people, not to corporations that profit off the backs of workers. Without these foundational pillars, the transition will continue to serve the interests of the wealthy and the powerful, leaving workers behind.
A Just Transition is integral to and cannot be separated from the broader fight for climate justice. At its core, climate justice is worker justice. Workers in the Global South, particularly in precarious and informal employment, are the ones most affected by climate change, despite having contributed the least to its causes. This is a crisis of inequality—both in responsibility and impact. The Global North must be held accountable for its historical emissions and provide the financial resources necessary to ensure a Just Transition in the Global South.
However, much of the climate finance for Just Transition is directed toward large-scale projects that benefit the private sector, instead of supporting worker-led initiatives and community-based solutions. For a Just Transition to truly succeed, we need transparent climate financing mechanisms that are just, equitable, and focused on public good, not debt-creating or driven by neoliberal solutions, such as privatisation, with accountability mechanisms.
At the heart of Just Transition must be democratic participation in energy governance. The transition to a low-carbon economy cannot be dictated by corporate elites or international financial institutions. Instead, it must be led by workers, trade unions, and communities, drawing on indigenous knowledge and their innovative, inclusive approaches that ensure protection of the people and the planet. This embodies energy and resource democracy, where energy is treated as a public good, managed for people’s benefit rather than profit. We should channel climate finance toward building a system where workers and communities control their future, ensuring a Just Transition that works for all, not just the privileged few.
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