Workshop for Asia Just Transition Action and Network

Background and Rationale

Greenhouse gas emissions trap heat, accelerate global warming, and drive widespread environmental and humanitarian crises. The world is facing escalating hazards, including extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and ecosystem collapse, all of which threaten global food and water security. Addressing these impacts requires urgent, coordinated global action to transition to clean energy systems and build resilient communities.

The global community is working jointly to accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 13 (Climate Action), which calls for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. This includes strengthening climate resilience, improving preparedness for climate-related disasters, and enhancing public education and awareness on environmental sustainability. The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). COP is convened annually to negotiate global climate goals and coordinate international climate action, including efforts to limit global warming, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and mobilise climate finance. COP31 is scheduled to take place in Antalya, Türkiye, in November 2026, with a pre-COP for the Pacific. The ILO Guidelines for a Just Transition (2015) provide tripartite constituents with a comprehensive policy framework to mitigate the impacts on workers and enterprises during just transition processes. In addition, many national, regional, and global initiatives are working to address climate impacts and build environmental resilience and sustainability.

Workers and vulnerable communities around the world are advocating for climate justice, just transition protections, and workplace transformation, alongside rights-based workforce transition and community-based adaptation actions. Trade union members support worker-led workplace adaptation through meaningful social dialogue with employers, complemented by engagement with governments at the sectoral level. They seek to be active participants in shaping the changes taking place within their industries and workplaces.

A just transition is essential to ensure that climate action protects livelihoods and addresses the needs of vulnerable communities. These include workers in the informal and circular economy; women; persons with disabilities; youth; Indigenous peoples; low-income groups; workers in high-risk sectors; workers in outdoor occupations such as agriculture, construction, and transport; and workers across supply chains, including electronics, ready-made garments, semiconductor manufacturing, chemicals, coal, and the mining of critical minerals needed for the climate transition.

A growing number of national and regional initiatives led by national and international trade unions, informal sector workers’ organisations and networks, worker-led civil society organisations (CSOs), and United Nations entities are contributing to advancing the just transition agenda in Asia through diverse approaches and modalities. These initiatives address a wide range of issues, including the integration of just transition principles into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), just energy transition, labour rights, occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS), adaptive social protection, disaster risk reduction (DRR), gender justice in transition processes, circular economy approaches, just transition for informal workers in the recycling sector, and worker- and community-led initiatives.

This growing momentum highlights the need for more coordinated regional action among trade unions and other climate actors to effectively influence national, regional, and global climate initiatives and processes. In this context, trade unions, civil society organisations, and like-minded organisations seek to join hands to envision a collaborative platform for regional knowledge-sharing, joint advocacy, joint action, capacity-building, and networking. The platform is intended to connect grassroots, national, and regional organisations working on just transition within a broader regional framework.

This workshop is designed to bring together national and regional stakeholders actively engaged in just transition efforts. It will review global climate and policy frameworks, examine the role of trade unions and CSOs at national, regional, and global levels, facilitate the sharing of ongoing initiatives and actions, analyse gaps and opportunities, and identify areas for mutual collaboration. The workshop will also provide space for collective discussion on the significance of SDG 13; the role of trade unions and Trade Union Support and Solidarity Organisations (TUSSOs) in advancing climate action; strategies for influencing the implementation of NDCs; the engagement of trade unions and TUSSOs in COP31 processes and outcomes; and the sharing of experiences and good practices related to Just Transition (JT) initiatives among participating organisations.

Objectives

· Strengthen a shared understanding among labour, civil society, trade unions, TUSSOs, and allied actors in Asia on global climate governance frameworks, including COP processes and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and clarify their strategic roles in advancing labour rights, climate justice, and the protection of workers and communities in just transition processes.

· Facilitate regional exchange of experiences, approaches, and lessons learned on just transition initiatives across countries and sectors, and develop a consolidated overview of ongoing actions, key actors, and emerging practices in the region.

· Foster collaboration among trade unions, informal worker organisations, grassroots labour and environmental rights groups, TUSSOs, and other Just Transition stakeholders across Asia’s climate-vulnerable countries to strengthen collective action, amplify the voices of workers and affected communities, and advance sustained cooperation for a just and inclusive transition.

· Map existing initiatives and institutional actors working on just transition in Asia, and build convergence on common priorities by identifying key gaps, challenges, and opportunities for enhanced coordination, collaboration, and collective impact at national, regional, and global levels, including engagement with SDG processes, NDC implementation, and COP-related frameworks.

· Discuss collaborative mechanisms and strategies through which multi-stakeholder groups can maximise their voice and representation in climate change and just transition initiatives and processes taking place at national, regional, and global levels.

Participants

The workshop will convene 40 to 50 representatives from national trade unions, informal worker organisations, labour and environmental NGOs, OSH rights organisations, and grassroots groups representing EOSH victims across Asia’s most climate-vulnerable countries. The workshop will specifically focus on organisations and actors active in climate justice, labour and environmental rights, occupational health, and social protection. By bringing together these frontline voices alongside regional Global Union Federations (GUFs), regional trade union bodies, Trade Union Solidarity Support Organisations (TUSSOs), climate justice networks, youth, Indigenous and gender-responsive advocacy groups, and relevant United Nations entities, the initiative aims to foster a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder approach to advancing a just transition across the region. This workshop is supported by the Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational and Environmental Victims (ANROEV), OSHE International, Unifor (Canada), and the ILO.

Expected Outcomes

1. A consolidated mapping of ongoing just transition initiatives, key actors, and priority gaps across participating countries and sectors, providing a common evidence base for future coordination and action to advance just transition in Asia for workers and communities.

2. Common priorities outlined on just transition, including engagement pathways related to COP processes, NDC implementation, SDGs, labour rights, and climate justice advocacy at the national level through regional and grassroots actions.

3. A preliminary regional action plan for laying the foundation of the Just Transition Asia Network, identifying priority joint activities, thematic areas of cooperation, follow-up steps at national and regional levels, and opportunities for coordinated advocacy on a just transition in Asia.

4. A collaborative and action-oriented mechanism established, with a shared understanding and basic consensus among multi-stakeholders on the vision for the Just Transition Asia networking initiative and collective action across the region.