Climate sustainability prioritizes meeting the 1.5°C Paris Agreement limit by 2030 and challenging anthropogenic links to carbon emissions. This chapter examines the future of work (FOW) impacted by disparate factors like poverty, climate impacts, digital technology access, inequitable policies, capital access, and that “sustainability is interdisciplinary.” FOW upskilling, the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), and related inequities in emerging and established economies have singular and cumulative effects on Black, Brown, and Indigenous populations. This analysis uses data and case examples from the UN 17SDGs, the Brundtland Report concept of sustainability, industry surveys, and current grey literature. Climate affects every sector. Further acknowledgement and research are needed for 1.5°C hurdles and human-centered disparities and tradeoffs to shape meaningful public policy, impacts of rapidly adjusting to new automated and algorithm-based industry occupations, and minimizing systemic impediments to future of work for Black, Brown, and Indigenous around the world.
TopIntroduction
Climate change priorities reflect the importance of safeguarding 1.2 billion jobs, with consideration for the differences of developing and developed economies (Xinhua & Chinadaily, 2019). The 1987 United Nations (UN) Brundtland Report is credited with establishing the concept of sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Drolet, 2015). This concept, developed by Brundtland, a physician, former Norwegian prime minister, and chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development, focused on the three Es of environment, equity, and economics. The Brundtland Report stated that critical global environmental problems were primarily the result of the enormous poverty of the South and the non-sustainable patterns of consumption and production of the North (Federal Office for Spatial Development, 1987).
In Boehm & Schumer (2023) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres commented that:
Our world needs climate action on all fronts – everything, everywhere, all at once; most alarming conclusion is that adverse climate impacts are already more far-reaching and extreme than anticipated.
Most notable are the UN 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and more than 230 indicators. These global mandates are designed to promote equity and prosperity, as well protect the planet (Morton et al., 2019). The purpose of this chapter is to explore the future of work (FOW) at the intersection of climate and equity for at-risk communities by overlapping challenges across industry, policy, and economic development in emerging and developed communities of Black, Brown, and Indigenous populations.
This chapter explores climate change priorities that reflect the importance of safeguarding 1.2 billion jobs. Moreover, the connection between the FOW and sustainability reflects the findings and data of the IPCC report by Boehm & Schumer (2023) which asserts that:
while climate actions produce new opportunities for the economy, environment, and society they are contingent upon international cooperation, with social justice and equity being core aspects of climate-resilient pathways.
As a focus on safeguarding jobs, the FOW is part of a concept of a “Just Transition” states:
maximizing the social and economic opportunities of climate action, while minimizing and carefully managing any challenges – including through effective social dialogue among all groups impacted, and respect for fundamental labor principles and rights (International Labour Organization, 2021).
Much has been asserted about the FOW. There is no lack of data or forecasts about planning for an electric economy, shifting the working conditions, or how FOW is impacted by innovation. The depth and breathe of sources of FOW quantitative and qualitative reporting includes:
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World Economic Forum (WE): Future of Jobs Report 2020 (World Economic Forum, 2020).
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International Labor Organization (ILO) Global Forum for a Human-Centered Recovery (COVID 19) (International Labour Organization, 2022).
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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Impacts for Economic Development (Arent et al., 2014).
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And extensive grey literature that explores every aspect of economic development in emerging and developed economies.
This chapter attempts to show the intersectionality of factors that could drive outcomes for the culture at large, particularly Black, Brown, and Indigenous populations. This complexity is at the center of planning for the FOW, amplifying challenges and opportunities, and exploring the role of stakeholders. Concurrently, Caballero et al. (2023) argues that the intersection of FOW and the SDGs show the nuances of areas that have been ignored, dissonance in the use of language, and the acknowledgement of customs and cultural norms to strengthen strategies that support sustainability and gaps in awareness .