January 28, 2025—FSG, with support from the H&M Foundation and Laudes Foundation, has released an in-depth research report highlighting the urgency of, and a path forward to, a just climate transition in Bangladesh’s textile and apparel, and construction sectors. The report was unveiled today at the Just Transition Forum for Bangladesh hosted by Laudes Foundation. The Forum brought together leaders from across industry, labour organisations, government, finance and philanthropy, to explore opportunities and solutions to mitigate risks from climate transitions.
Developed through extensive research and consultation with more than 100 diverse stakeholders, the report, ‘Just Climate Transitions in Bangladesh: Accelerating Multistakeholder Action in Textile and Apparel and Construction Industries’, offers a transformative vision for a just and green future for Bangladesh’s textile and apparel, and construction sectors. It identifies opportunities for multi-stakeholder action to ensure a climate-positive transition that is equitable and inclusive for industrial workers.
Why this matters:
Business as usual is not a viable option for Bangladesh to meet its climate goals and ensure its long-term development. These two sectors together contribute 74 percent of Bangladesh’s industrial GDP, 80 percent of its industrial workforce, and about half of its industrial emissions, and are key to the country’s shift toward a low-carbon and climate-resilient future. Most of the workforce in these sectors is employed informally, making workers particularly vulnerable to shocks, particularly those caused by climate transitions.
Just transitions bring opportunities for proactive businesses and countries. Pursuing just transitions has the potential to reduce costs for Bangladeshi businesses through resource efficiency and low-cost energy, and enhance the competitiveness of Bangladesh and of leading businesses. Just transitions also have the potential to create new high-quality jobs through the development of new products and services and access to new markets.
Without proactive action, these sectors risk facing significant job losses, reduced competitiveness, and heightened vulnerability to climate shocks. Only with proactive investment to mitigate physical and transition risks can Bangladesh protect its development trajectory.
Key highlights of the report:
This report charts a course for achieving a just, low-carbon, and climate-resilient economy, offering:
- Scenario planning for 2030, outlining six distinct and plausible future scenarios for the textile and apparel sector, and four for the construction sector, as a tool for navigating the urgency, complexity, and uncertainty around the impacts of Bangladesh’s industry climate transitions on its workers.
- Seven interlinked priorities for stakeholders—businesses, workers and their representatives, policymakers, development organisations, skilling providers, finance, and philanthropy—to accelerate just climate transitions.
- Recommendations for decarbonising industrial operations, enhancing resilience of both industry and workers, ensuring worker inclusion, and fostering social equity. The report highlights strategies to ensure that the voices and lived experiences of workers are central to climate transition planning.
“This report describes the urgent need for Bangladesh’s pursuit of a just transition to a low-carbon and resilient economy which creates green jobs with fair wages and working conditions. It showcases what is already happening in Bangladesh, which could be scaled up, and also offers actionable insights to help stakeholders take up complementary and concerted action to develop industries that are resilient, sustainable, and fair for workers,” said Sujata Rathi, a Director at FSG, and one of the authors of the report.
“This report highlights the need to focus on both climate mitigation and adaptation, while driving systems change. It offers invaluable insights for anyone invested in Bangladesh, the climate, the RMG sector, or the just transition. As donors, we are committed to financing decarbonisation, circularity, climate adaptation, and improved labour policies. We will use this report to design our collective impact initiative Oporajita’s phase two, which will focus even more on catalysing a just transition in combination with decarbonisation of the sector. Collaboration is key, and we eagerly invite all stakeholders to join us in this journey towards a sustainable and just future,” said Charlotte Brunnstrom, Programme Director, H&M Foundation.
“The Just Climate Transitions in Bangladesh report provides a roadmap at a pivotal moment in Bangladesh’s journey, one that champions contextually relevant solutions that puts people at the core of industry transitions in ways that are inclusive, green and fair,” said Naureen Chowdhury, Head of Labour Rights Programme, Laudes Foundation.
About FSG:
FSG is a mission-driven consulting firm supporting leaders in creating large-scale, lasting social change. Through customized consulting services, innovative thought leadership, and learning communities, we are working to create a world where everyone can live up to their full potential. Through strategy, evaluation, and research, we help many types of actors—individually and collectively—make progress against the world’s toughest problems. We develop initiatives to put our insights into practice. These efforts include Talent Rewire (engaging employers for equitable economic mobility), GLOW (growing livelihood opportunities for women), and the Collective Impact Forum.
To learn more, please visit: www.fsg.org
For inquiries on the report, please contact – media@fsg.org
