Labour Law, Climate Change and Trade

This course will examine two areas of global significance to labour law. The first is international trade. As a key aspect of globalisation, economic integration of national economies through trade liberalisation (‘free trade’), is profoundly shaping the world of work through job and industry restructuring; shifts in the balance of power between employers and workers; and impacts on working conditions. The second is climate change. As an existential crisis for humanity, climate change will have, according to the International Labour Organisation, an impact on the world of work ‘akin to an Industrial Revolution’. The course will integrate these two areas through an examination of the climate-trade-labour nexus where international trade is a key contributor of climate change and potentially a significant lever for climate action.