Bridging the Gap: From Global Climate Talks to Real-World Worker Action

As world leaders, corporations, and NGOs gather again for global climate talks, we’ll hear the familiar promises of “ambition,” “innovation,” and “net zero.” The glossy speeches and photo opportunities will tell a story of progress. But on the shop floor, in our food factories, bakeries, and distribution centres, workers know the truth: climate action can’t be left to those whose priority is profit.

For too long, climate negotiations have been dominated by governments and corporate interests who talk about sustainability while outsourcing emissions, exploiting workers, and cutting corners on safety. It’s the same logic that drives poverty pay, insecure work, and the race to the bottom and it’s killing the planet as well as our communities.

Exposing Greenwashing and Demanding Accountability

Every year, we see more greenwashing. Food giants boast about recyclable packaging or carbon-neutral bread while continuing to rely on low-paid, high-stress, energy-intensive production models that burn people out and waste resources. They sponsor “eco-initiatives” while fighting against trade union recognition. They talk about “fairness” while workers struggle to afford heating and food.

That’s why trade union voices must cut through the spin. Real climate justice means holding corporations accountable not only for their emissions, but for their treatment of workers. Environmental sustainability and social justice are two sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other.

Workers on the Front Line of Change

BFAWU members are already leading the way in practical, worker-led climate action. Our reps and members are challenging wasteful practices, improving energy use, and building solidarity around green workplace policies that make a real difference from demanding proper ventilation and energy-efficient equipment to reducing food waste and fighting for just transition plans that protect jobs.

When workers organise collectively, we change things. A safe, sustainable workplace isn’t something handed down from a boardroom; it’s won through bargaining, through health and safety campaigns, through the daily efforts of trade unionists who care about people and the planet.

From COP to the Shop Floor

The climate crisis isn’t an abstract global issue it’s happening in our communities, and it’s hitting working-class people first and hardest. Rising food prices, extreme weather, and failing infrastructure are all consequences of a broken economic model that prioritises profit over people and the planet.

That’s why bridging the gap between international climate talk and workplace action is so important. The solutions won’t come from CEOs or politicians alone they’ll come from workers organising collectively to demand a fair deal for people and the planet.

Real Climate Action Means Worker Power

We don’t need another PR campaign or another round of voluntary pledges. We need public investment, strong unions, and workplace democracy. We need to empower workers to be part of the solution not as spectators, but as leaders.

This November, as the world’s powerful gather once again to discuss climate policy, BFAWU members will continue doing what we’ve always done: organising on the ground, demanding accountability, and building a movement that puts workers and the planet before profit

Because when workers act, real change happens not in the boardroom, but on the shop floor.