The Joint Ethical Trading Initiatives have been working with social dialogue in garment factories in Bangladesh since 2014. Through support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), ETI Bangladesh has completed a pilot programme called Green Social Dialogue in five RMG factories in Bangladesh. In this programme, we specialise the social dialogue initiatives, aiming to make ready-made garments (RMG) workers and civil society representatives sensitized to engage on the impacts of climate change on the industry.

In this webinar we intend to share the findings from the end-line study, our accumulated experience and learning from the programme implementation. The presentation will be given by ETI Bangladesh in collaboration with Ethical Trade Norway. In addition, this webinar will provide us with a scope for engaging with the key industry stakeholders and receive their constructive feedback for further improvement of the programme.

Bangladesh is recognised as one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change because of its geographic location, population density and the volume of workers in climate-sensitive sectors. The RMG industry is the largest industry in Bangladesh in terms of its’ contribution to the export and gross domestic product. And this sector has a vast impact on the climate through waste, water and energy consumption, including its remarkable contribution to the country’s GHG emission. Taking the intersectionality between climate change, worker rights and gender into consideration is very crucial, especially from the just transition perspective, to make this industry more inclusive and just for all. In this context, ETI Bangladesh, in association with Ethical Trade Norway and ETI UK, initiated their workplace-based pilot initiative named Green Social Dialogue in 2022.

Based on the results of our initial mapping of the RMG sector’s awareness of climate change, sustainable waste management, water resource utilisation and energy efficiency and the level of worker participation in workplace-based climate-related interventions, we developed and implemented GSD pilot programme, with special focus on building capacity of RMG workforce to engage on aforementioned topics and take measures towards common solutions for the best of the climate and the workers. We have recently completed GSD end-line study and consolidated our collective learnings from the implementation.

We look forward to your valued participation in the webinar, which is open to all interested parties. Please sign up through the Ethical Trade Norway Website link below.