Bangladesh workers' organisations unite to shape a just transition, and the window is now

When workers have a seat at the table, transitions become truly just. Across history, it has been workers - organised, united, and clear-eyed about what their communities need - who have turned moments of economic upheaval into opportunities for lasting progress. A just transition is not simply about managing the costs of change. It is about workers actively shaping the future of work: securing green jobs with decent wages, building climate-resilient livelihoods, and ensuring that no one - no informal worker, no woman in a garment factory, no smallholder farmer - is left behind by decisions made without them. Bangladesh stands at exactly that kind of moment. And its workers' organisations are rising to meet it.

On 1-2 April, representatives from more than ten workers' organisations gathered for an intensive working session on just transition. Convened by the ILO, the event forged coordination before a series of high-stakes national policy deadlines that will define Bangladesh's climate transition for decades. They left with four joint priorities, a shared vision statement, a coordination platform, and named focal points in every organisation to follow through on commitments that are grounded in evidence.

A critical window - with a real deadline

Bangladesh is one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries, yet responsible for just 0.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Its workers are already on the front line: in 2024 alone, heat-related physical and mental health conditions led to costing the economy up to US$1.78 billion [1]. With 85% of the workforce in informal employment [2], the social protection systems that should cushion climate and economic shocks barely exist for most workers.

At the same time, Bangladesh is navigating compounding structural shifts: LDC graduation, rising energy prices, rapid automation reshaping industry, and tightening EU due diligence and carbon border rules. Workers are being asked to adapt to changes they did not cause and were not consulted on.

That is changing. Bangladesh is finalising its third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0), which includes (for the first time_ a dedicated Just Transition chapter. A national Just Transition policy and action plan is to be drafted and finalised by early 2027. The window for workers to shape that agenda is open right now.

Workers' organisations must enter each phase with a clear, coordinated position (backed by evidence from the ground) to be credible partners in shaping Bangladesh's Just Transition framework.

A common vision, common risks - and the commitment to act together

Participants mapped the transition risks already underway across the economy: from garments to agriculture, construction, and the informal economy. Across every group, the same picture emerged: job displacement, the particular vulnerability of women and coastal area workers, growing automation, climate-driven migration, and widening skills gaps. Informal and marginalised workers (including persons with disabilities, indigenous communities, and home-based workers) were consistently the most exposed, and the least served by existing support.

A gallery walk of organisations' work plans surfaced something striking. Multiple organisations were running similar policy advocacy, capacity building, and research programmes, often targeting the same communities, without awareness of each other's efforts, but with a common commitment and vision. Participants reframed this not as a problem, but as an opportunity: shared ground from which to build a division of labour, pool limited resources and amplify collective impact.

Despite the diversity of organisations present, the groups converged on a shared vision:

"An inclusive, low-carbon, climate-resilient future of work where all workers - formal and informal - are recognised, given opportunities and protected with equal wages, decent working conditions, safe workplaces, and universal social protection."
- Joint vision statement agreed in plenary, 1-2 April 2026

Concrete commitments and tools, not just good intentions

The workshop closed with organisations agreeing to four joint priority areas: policy advocacy, coordination, capacity development, and research and data. Under the National Alliance for Just Transition Bangladesh (NAJTB), member organisations committed to:

• Joint sectoral research with findings feeding directly into the NDC 3.0 review
• Sectoral, district, and targeted consultations for upcoming NDC 3.0 processes, feeding into one coordinated worker position
• A shared resource hub and knowledge repository for workers
• Co-bidding on complementary projects to pool resources and avoid duplication
• Regular coordination meetings, with focal points nominated across all organisations

But translating commitments into impact will require more than coordination among workers' organisations alone. Sultan Ahmed stressed that just transition cannot succeed as a standalone agenda - climate, employment, social security, and labour law policies must reinforce rather than contradict each other. He pointed to a telling example: workers currently cannot take leave to reskill, undermining the very upskilling programmes that the transition depends on. Unless policy coherence is treated as a precondition, even the best-coordinated worker voice risks pushing against a system that is pulling in the opposite direction.

In short: Bangladesh's workers did not cause the climate crisis, but they will bear its costs unless they act with one voice, now, in the spaces where policy is being written. The coordination built in Savar is the foundation for worker leadership that Bangladesh's just transition cannot succeed without.