Combating climate change will increasingly impact on production industries and the workers they employ as production changes and consumption is targeted. Yet research has largely ignored labour and its responses. This book brings together sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, historians, economists, and representatives from international and local unions based in Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Taiwan, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the USA. Together they open up a new area of research: Environmental Labour Studies. The authors ask what kind of environmental policies are unions in different countries and sectors developing. How do they aim to reconcile the protection of jobs with the protection of the environment? What are the forms of cooperation developing between trade unions and environmental movements, especially the so-called Red-Green alliances? Under what conditions are unions striving to create climate change policies that transcend the economic system? Where are they trying to find solutions that they see as possible within the present socio-economic conditions? What are the theoretical and practical implications of trade unions' "Just Transition", and the problems and perspectives of "Green Jobs"? The authors also explore how food workers' rights would contribute to low carbon agriculture, the role workers' identities play in union climate change policies, and the difficulties of creating solidarity between unions across the global North and South. Trade Unions in the Green Economy opens the climate change debate to academics and trade unionists from a range of disciplines in the fields of labour studies, environmental politics, environmental management, and climate change policy. It will also be useful for environmental organisations, trade unions, business, and politicians.

This book is a theoretically rich and empirically grounded account of UK trade union engagement with climate change over the last three decades. It offers a rigorous critique of the mainstream neoliberal and ecological modernisation approaches, extending the concepts of Marxist social and employment relations theory to the climate realm. The book applies insights from employment relations to the political economy of climate change, developing a model for understanding trade union behaviour over climate matters. The strong interdisciplinary approach draws together lessons from both physical and social science, providing an original empirical investigation into the climate politics of the UK trade union movement from high level officials down to workplace climate representatives, from issues of climate jobs to workers’ climate action. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers in environmental politics, climate change and environmental sociology.

This book is a theoretically rich and empirically grounded account of UK trade union engagement with climate change over the last three decades. It offers a rigorous critique of the mainstream neoliberal and ecological modernisation approaches, extending the concepts of Marxist social and employment relations theory to the climate realm. The book applies insights from employment relations to the political economy of climate change, developing a model for understanding trade union behaviour over climate matters. The strong interdisciplinary approach draws together lessons from both physical and social science, providing an original empirical investigation into the climate politics of the UK trade union movement from high level officials down to workplace climate representatives, from issues of climate jobs to workers’ climate action. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers in environmental politics, climate change and environmental sociology.

Focuses on the social and economic consequences of climate change policies, looking at which policies can ensure the decency of future "green" jobs.

Although the existential threat of climate change has at last been generally acknowledged, its influence on the labour market and the regulation of labour relations remains ambivalent at best. This supremely important volume, with contributions by thirteen prominent labour law practitioners and academics, shows how labour law not only can but absolutely must assume a greater role in the debate on the climate crisis and move towards a new eco-friendly labour paradigm. Committed to the proposition that employment must come to terms with the natural environment and open a new chapter in the relationship between human work and the Earth, the authors examine critical issues and perspectives on the role of labour law in a just ecological transition, focusing on such aspects as the following: negative externalities associated with the value chains production model; (in)effectiveness of corporate social responsibility and sustainability initiatives; protection of human rights from violations attributable to private sector activities; protection of whistleblowers; need for professional training in new occupations; environmental migrants; reskilling and active inclusion of workers and jobseekers; role of remote work and flexible working time; and evaluation and reward of employees. The impact of the green transition on industrial activities is already creating strong tensions among the social parties, leading inevitably to massive restructuring of enterprises and relocation of thousands of workers. This detailed analysis of the implications of climate change for the labour contract and the industrial relations system provides appropriate tools to understand trends and possible solutions for the future. It will be welcomed by managers, consultants, corporate lawyers, judges, human rights experts, trade unionists, researchers, and professors placed at the nexus of labour, industrial relations, and social rights in Europe and worldwide.

This publication presents examples of the application of technical expertise, of workplace participation, and of tools that promote workers' health and safety to problems that extend beyond the workplace into areas such as environmental protection, public health and the accountability of employers. It focuses on crucial issues ranging from climate change and energy, chemicals management, and corporate social responsibility and accountability to future involvement of workers and trade unions with the environment and with efforts to move towards sustainability. Publishing Agency: United Nations Environment Programme.