Ten major worker groups representing hundreds of thousands of workers from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal signed a new Polluters’ Pay Pact on Labour Day in New Delhi. The pact called on governments to collect new taxes from fossil fuel companies for emitting greenhouse gases (GHG) and contributing to global warming and climate change. The event was organised by the Workers’ Collective for Climate Justice — South Asia, along with Greenpeace India.
The organisations urged governments to channel these revenues into climate adaptation measures that would support communities affected by the worsening impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather events.
The signing of the pact coincided with a severe heatwave sweeping across South Asia and followed the World Meteorological Organization’s declaration of 2024 as the warmest year on record.
Worker representatives from across India highlighted the disproportionate risks they faced due to extreme weather such as the ongoing heat waves and floods during the monsoon season. These included reduced earnings, health problems, and harassment by local authorities when attempting to implement basic protective measures.
“Food vendors, who form a large portion of street vendors, are heavily affected by extreme heat and floods, as their food materials spoil and customer footfall drops,” said Sandeep Verma from the organisation Youth Organisation for Democratic and Help in Action (YODDHA). “When agriculture is impacted on a larger scale, raw material prices rise, further squeezing their margins.”
Verma added that many vendors were penalised by authorities for encroachment when they installed umbrellas or tarpaulin sheets to shield themselves from the heat.
Several trade unions had protested in Delhi last June due to the inadequate implementation of the government’s heat action plan, noted Akash Bhattacharya, spokesperson for the All India Central Council of Trade Unions.
“Many domestic workers in Delhi told me they were made to sleep on balconies where the heat expelled from air conditioners made it unbearable at night,” said Anita Kapoor, general secretary and founder of the Shehri Mahila Kamgar Union (SMKU). “Domestic workers are not even recognised as workers by the government and therefore excluded from heat action plans.”
As part of the event, Greenpeace India launched a new report titled Ground Zero: Climate Experiences among Informal Workers in Delhi. The report outlined the effects of extreme heat and flooding on the incomes and health of informal workers.
According to the study, a 1°C rise in temperature could lead to a fall in informal workers’ earnings by up to 19 per cent, with income losses reaching as high as 40 per cent due to unbearable midday heat and reduced business activity. At the same time, medical expenses increased by an average of 14 per cent, highlighting what Greenpeace termed the “climate-health-economic nexus” in a press statement.
The reduction of incomes and increasing health expenditure pushes informal workers into a debt trap of informal money lenders. The report states that “street vendors report borrowing Rs 500- Rs 2,000 from local lenders to restock perishables or pay rent after being hit by a climate disaster or extreme weather. But this debt often compounds before they cam recover enough earnings.”
Women informal workers, the report added, faced an unequal burden. During heatwaves, many avoided drinking water to escape the need to use unsafe, unhygienic, or paid public toilets — resulting in chronic dehydration, urinary tract infections and other heat-related illnesses. Greenpeace called this a “silent epidemic.”
“As temperatures rise, we must do the same. City infrastructure needs to match the adaptation needs of everyone. Vendors, who work outside through the heatwave, are in urgent need of cooling centers, shaded areas, water and medical care to survive this heatwave season,” said Verma.
“All workers’ struggles, including the fight against climate change, must converge if they are to have any real impact,” added Kapoor.
“Governments must tax Big Oil, the proceeds of which should be redirected for inclusive adaptation measures for vulnerable communities. Climate justice must begin by protecting those who are least responsible for this crisis, but who pay the heaviest price every day”, said Amruta S Nair, climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace India.