As global delegates gather for the 62nd session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Subsidiary Bodies (SB 62) in Bonn, Germany, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has demanded that the Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP) being negotiated must truly reflect the voices, rights, and needs of workers and their communities.
In a statement issued on Monday by Comrade Echezona Asuzu, National Coordinator of the NLC’s Climate Change, Green Jobs and Just Transition Program, the Congress condemned what he described as a creeping effort to hollow out the JTWP of its original intent-centering workers in the fight against climate change.
“The feedback from the SB 62 discussion reveals a pattern of inertia that hinders the inclusion of critical voices and perspectives in the JTWP,” Asuzu stated, warning that the current draft risks becoming a toothless instrument that serves powerful interests over the frontline workers most impacted by climate breakdown.
The concept of Just Transition was not an afterthought in global climate governance. It was forged in the crucible of worker struggles, civil society agitation, and environmental justice movements. The NLC reminds negotiators that it was “the efforts of the working people of the world, in conjunction with organised citizens’ groups, [that] ensured that Just Transition was mainstreamed in the UNFCCC main negotiated text from COP 16 in Cancun and ultimately in the Paris Climate Change Agreement.”
The 10th paragraph of the Paris Agreement’s preamble, a hard-won victory by global labour, acknowledges the “imperatives of a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs.” This clause, labour leaders argue, should now guide all implementation efforts—not be sidelined by technocratic inertia or corporate greenwashing.
“Just Transition is not a slogan. It is the soul of climate justice for workers,” Asuzu emphasised. “The JTWP must institutionalise and finance decent work pillars in all climate change workstreams—adaptation, mitigation, loss and damage, and resilience building.”
Despite the fact that most greenhouse gas emissions are tied directly or indirectly to production and labour processes, workers, especially in the Global South continued to be sidelined in decision-making spaces.
“Many climate deniers and non-progressive actors have continued to distort the truth of climate change primacy in the workplace,” Asuzu said. “This is an attempt at obfuscation, obstruction, and derailment of climate justice with inadequate participation of the principal actors in the domain where climate change is birthed—the working class.”
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), climate change and environmental degradation could result in the loss of 80 million full-time jobs by 2030 if no action is taken. On the flip side, a well-implemented green transition could create over 100 million jobs globally, but only if backed by strong labour protections, skill development, and social dialogue.
The Nigerian labour movement is adamant that Africa cannot afford to be left behind in this transition. Countries like Nigeria face a dual challenge of climate vulnerability and industrial underdevelopment, making it even more essential that just transition efforts are equitable and inclusive.
The NLC and other global worker federations are demanding that the JTWP being finalized at SB 62 must include: The mainstreaming of decent work and respect for labour rights in all climate policies; Provision of public financing, or at worst, single-digit interest blended financing for just transition initiatives; Comprehensive reskilling and upskilling programmes for affected workers; Adequate compensation for workers displaced or harmed by industrial pollution and climate impacts; And strong support for workplaces and communities suffering from climate-related loss and damage.
“Anything less than the foregoing demands would amount to an exercise in GREENWASHING,” Asuzu declared.
The Nigeria Labour Congress’s intervention joins a chorus of global labour voices, including the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and its regional arm, ITUC-Africa, who are closely monitoring the proceedings in Bonn.
With the upcoming COP 29 in Azerbaijan in sight, the decisions taken at SB 62 will serve as a critical foundation for how Just Transition is operationalised globally. Workers are insisting that their future, their health, and their livelihoods must not be compromised.
“The world cannot talk about climate ambition while trampling on the rights of those who power the global economy,” said Asuzu. “The JTWP must not be robbed of its soul and essence.”
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