The climate and nature crises are a workers’ crisis: Labour must tackle both
Last week, I joined two-dozen other trade union leaders to deliver a clear message to Downing Street: the climate and nature crises are not abstract environmental concerns, they are immediate threats to working people's livelihoods, health, and prosperity.
Representing more than a million workers between us, our letter to the Prime Minister is not just about saving the planet; it is about future-proofing jobs in all corners of the country, safeguarding employee rights, and ensuring Labour delivers on its promise of a just transition.
Since then, the Chancellor’s Spending Review shows that ministers do understand some – but crucially not all – of the climate and nature challenges we face.
New funding to better insulate homes and develop new renewable energy infrastructure across the UK will boost our energy security and bring down bills, but when combined with slashing DEFRA’s budget, shows we risk taking away from one hand to give to another.
Siloed approaches that view our national priorities in isolation help no one. We can only meet our climate targets if we rapidly restore nature.
For a government driven by tight fiscal rules, they need look no further than to heed the warnings of the World Health Organisation, who forecast 250,000 additional deaths annually by the 2030s from climate impacts, as heat stress alone risks cutting working hours by 2.2 per cent globally – equivalent to losing 80 million jobs.
These are not distant projections, they are realities facing millions of British workers through extreme weather, flooding, and deteriorating working conditions.
However, it is not all doom and gloom. The opportunities are vast. With the Climate Change Committee estimating that boosting climate policies could deliver between 135,000 and 725,000 new low-carbon jobs by 2030, this is the prize within our grasp, but only if we have the courage to seize it.
But what is the way forward? If only there were a roadmap with an overwhelming cross-party consensus which would supercharge protections for our planet, with the same rigour that Rachel Reeves seeks to steward our economy.
Such a solution exists and is backed by 250 parliamentarians – attracting praise from some even inside cabinet – and 1,000 organisations who want to embed its principles in everything we do: the Climate and Nature Bill.
When we talk about reskilling fossil fuel workers rather than abandoning them, we are talking about Labour values in action. When we demand secure, unionised work in green industries, we are fighting for the organised labour movement that built the party in power. When we call for industrial communities to be protected through a just transition, we are defending the heartlands that have always been Labour's strength but are now most at risk from the climate deniers of Reform.
While recent pledges to embed the ‘spirit and substance’ of the Bill are welcome, these words must become bold action and the gaps in the Spending Review show just how vital it is to end the siloed working in Whitehall and hold ourselves to looking at climate and nature in tandem.
But what would this look like? First, continuing the parliamentary debate on the Climate and Nature Bill that was paused earlier this year, giving MPs a chance to make the increasingly obvious case that avoiding climate and nature catastrophe really is a workers' issue.
Secondly, weaving climate and nature ambition into our laws, be it the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, Environmental Improvement Plan, and Carbon Budget Delivery Plan. A cross-government approach would boost long-term economic growth and national security – something the Chancellor has placed a huge focus on this week.
It would also hold us to higher standards, committing us to annual statements on climate and nature progress, with measurable outcomes for workers and communities. Transparency and accountability are not bureaucratic burdens; they are democratic necessities.
And the stakes couldn't be higher. Those who claim net zero costs too much willfully ignore not just the projected savings and health benefits, but the catastrophic costs of inaction.
Labour has a choice: lead the just transition or watch others fill the vacuum. Ministers can either create hundreds of thousands of secure, well-paid green jobs or we can retreat, making cuts, and leaving working families to face climate breakdown without the protection they deserve.
With millions of workers on our side, we stand ready to work with the Government to make just transition reality. The question is: is Labour ready to lead?
The future of our members – and everyone across Britain – depends on the answer.
Fran Heathcote is the General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union.
