A 2024 report recorded 733 heatstroke deaths in India and more than 40,000 cases across 17 states. From April to June 2024, India experienced its longest heatwave in recorded history, with temperatures reaching 50°C in some areas. Despite some welcome respite during July’s monsoon rains, ‘extreme rain days’ have increased in India since the mid-twentieth century, prompting red alerts from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
For those working outdoors, especially in cities, these climate extremes create dangerous and unpredictable conditions. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has identified six key impacts of climate change on workers: excessive heat, solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, extreme weather events, workplace air pollution, vector-borne diseases, and agrochemicals. While these impacts are most pronounced among informal workers engaged in long hours of outdoor labour, nonprofit fieldworkers face similar risks. They often spend extended hours outside without adequate provisions, navigating hazardous sites for relief work.
As a nonprofit working on social justice issues, we at One Future Collective have witnessed first-hand how the climate crisis is increasingly disrupting our work. Much of what we do involves field engagement and working directly with communities across Mumbai. However, relentless downpours and red alerts in the city recently forced us to pause ongoing projects, demonstrating that climate change is not just an external challenge but one that is shaping the way we operate. For instance, during the 2024 monsoon season, we had to reschedule five workshops in Mumbai due to IMD red alerts. Not only were participants unable to travel to the events, but team members also had to wade through flooded streets, risking exposure to waterborne diseases, manhole-related injuries, road and train station closures, and other hazards.
These disruptions sparked conversations within our team and with peers in the development sector, particularly in urban areas. With India’s cities becoming hotspots for the climate crisis, we wanted to understand how this was impacting workers in this space. To do so, we conducted a survey to gain a preliminary understanding of these challenges. Titled Labour Rights, Climate Change, and the Urban Development Sector, the survey explored how climate change is affecting workers in the social sector and what gaps need to be addressed. While not exhaustive, these insights offer a glimpse into the lived realities of those working on some of the most critical issues of our times.
The unequal burden of climate exposure
The urban development sector can be broadly divided into two groups. One consists of those who can often work from home in controlled environments with minimal field exposure. The other includes workers, many from marginalised communities, who spend significant time in the field, often navigating unpredictable and difficult conditions.
Workers are rarely recognised as individuals directly affected by the climate crisis.
Similarly, in social sector organisations working on the climate crisis, many employees come from the very communities they aim to serve. Yet workplace policies often overlook their needs. These workers are rarely recognised as individuals directly affected by the climate crisis, despite immediately experiencing its impacts. Instead, they are often expected to endure difficult conditions as a testament to their passion and commitment to the cause.
For instance, respondents shared that they regularly travel to multiple locations to engage with communities, placing them at the forefront of disaster response and climate-related crises. Despite this, they are frequently left without adequate protection, insurance, or post-event support. The constant exposure, coupled with poor living and working conditions, exacerbates their vulnerabilities.
Additionally, persons with disabilities shared that they experienced worsened health conditions, such as autoimmune disorders, along with accessibility challenges in offline work.
Declining health status and quality of life
“I recently moved from a rural settlement to an urban area to focus on urban development. Since the move, I’ve been falling sick frequently, which wasn’t the case earlier. The ecosystem and weather here are highly unpredictable, making it difficult to adjust. Additionally, ongoing metro construction in my area is poorly managed by the government, making daily commutes extremely challenging. Meanwhile, other mainstream parts of the city are spacious, well-maintained, and properly planned,” shared a respondent who migrated to Delhi.
Respondents reported that the effects of climate change had deteriorated their health, leading to more frequent illness; increased lethargy; chronic conditions such as allergies, fever, and headaches; and a reduced sense of overall well-being. Respondents across Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore noted that their field teams fall sick frequently during peak summer temperatures. One respondent in Bangalore cited a rise in urinary tract infections (UTIs) among female staff and frequent allergy flare-ups given the unpredictable weather.
With traditionally low salaries, development sector fieldworkers often struggle to afford items and goods that could ease the immediate impacts of climate change, even if momentarily. For example, many shared that they lived in homes without air conditioning, in areas where power cuts lasted for hours or even days, or where flooding and destruction of property were common.
The need to rethink how we work
These preliminary findings highlight key steps nonprofits can take to better support workers facing climate-induced challenges:
1. Integrate climate considerations into organisational structures
Based on the respondents’ experience, it is clear that while some organisations are taking steps to address climate challenges, efforts remain inconsistent and insufficient. Many nonprofits offer work-from-home options, flexible hours, or additional leave during extreme weather, but these policies are not uniformly applied. Additionally, the nature of field work makes permanent remote work impractical for many.
To better support employees, respondents suggested both immediate and long-term measures. In the short term, this includes increased pay for fieldworkers, funds for remote work set-ups, and improved overall compensation. In the long term, beyond health insurance, there is a need for new financial instruments to protect against wage losses due to climate disruptions.
This has been an ongoing conversation for us as well, and we have had discussions about our organisation’s impact on employees during climate-related difficulties. Our team regularly organises offline workshops and events for community members, but the increasing severity of the climate crisis directly affects our planning.
Climate change is more than just an environmental issue.
Extreme weather conditions, such as scorching heatwaves and heavy rains, endanger both participants and our staff. Rising temperatures force us to book indoor venues, often at a higher cost due to air conditioning requirements, which strains our budget. Furthermore, since most of our employees use public transportation, they are more vulnerable to adverse weather conditions, making commuting difficult and dangerous. Climate change is more than just an environmental issue—it also affects daily operations and access to critical community spaces.
A more structured approach is essential. Organisations must assess how climate change affects employees by reviewing their policies, structures, and workplace culture. These insights should inform organisational strategy, design, and implementation. Since every nonprofit faces unique climate-related challenges depending on factors such as years of operation, size, and access to funding, assessments must be intersectional and collect disaggregated data to highlight the differential impact on workers. For example, women in agriculture face greater risks during heatwaves due to restricted access to shade and water, a consequence of systemic inequalities in land ownership, workplace conditions, and social norms. Similarly, Dalit workers in disaster-prone areas are often overrepresented in hazardous, low-paying jobs with minimal protections, making recovery after climate disasters more difficult. Collecting this data is crucial for providing accurate and equitable support to all workers.
2. Secure adequate funding and resources
Delays or denials in FCRA license renewal, as experienced by several nonprofits working on environment and climate issues, can hinder their ability to fund and sustain climate-focused interventions, such as worker safety measures. With shrinking civic spaces and resource constraints in India, the philanthropic sector must recognise climate-induced challenges and collaborate with on-ground partners to understand how best to support them partners in mitigating and/or addressing these challenges.
Simultaneously, development professionals must lobby for budget allocations and the integration of climate-sensitive policies and budgets. For example, recognising the differential impact of climate change, SEWA, Blue Marble, and Arsht-Rock piloted an Extreme Heat Income Micro-Insurance scheme in Gujarat for informal workers, benefiting more than 46,000 women by compensating for lost work hours due to heatwaves. Similarly, nonprofits could explore renegotiating with funders and insurance providers to introduce parametric insurance against climate-induced events for development sector professionals.
3. Advocate for stronger labour law protection
The inadequate implementation and monitoring of labour laws in the urban development sector, combined with legal gaps that fail to address emerging high-risk situations for a diverse workforce, leave workers without formal protections and dependent on the employer’s discretion. Many nonprofits rely on private funding and lack access to statutory insurance schemes such as the one under Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). For instance, workers in disaster-prone areas such as Assam and Kerala often receive no legal compensation for injuries sustained during relief operations. Many are classified as volunteers or temporary staff, excluding them from formal protections under the Workmen’s Compensation Act. Since they are not covered under the ESIC either, this can leave workers in a position of risk.
Additionally, under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, all employers are legally required to ensure a safe, clean, and risk-free work environment. However, urban development organisations must go beyond compliance at their physical workplaces and extend protections to fieldworkers and on-ground employees as the definition of ‘workplace’ evolves. Nonprofits must consider changes at multiple levels: the organisational level (for example, establishing clear safety protocols for fieldwork), the sector level (for example, working with peer organisations to set industry-wide safety standards), and the policy level (for example, pushing for stricter enforcement of occupational safety laws). Meanwhile, workers could unionise, and both existing and newly formed unions could advocate for climate-adaptive policies. We are already seeing this happen in other sectors. For instance, in India, Building and Wood Workers’ International has consistently pressed for action on climate change issues and recently convened with 70 trade union leaders from across the country to demand that governments prioritise workers’ health and safety amid the global climate emergency.
There are no straightforward answers as we face climate-induced crises and record-breaking temperatures. However, despite limited resources and funding challenges, there are many opportunities for change. Nonprofits must integrate a climate lens into their work and take responsibility for the welfare of every employee.
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Know more
- Read this article on the productivity challenges faced by fieldworkers.
- Read this paper on how climate change is impacting health and safety of workers in developing economies.
- Read this blog on how HR policies can support employees.
